[moomoos42]

I'm so worried about my Poor Gals.
It was -11c last night  and they are still bald in places (ex-bats and moulting gals).
 i kept checking on them, we have a coop cam. They did huddle together more as it got colder but at one point i could see them shivering. I was so torn as to go out and put a heat pad/ hot water bottle in but  it would have let any hot air out and i don't want to burn them. Is there anything i can do? and do i need to? They came out this morning and seem fine. Thanks.

[impossible5072]

I am new to this but could you not purchase some knitted jumpers from one of the hen rescue places I think the wigan one does them so the others might, just a suggestion not sure if its the right thing to say or not but they do buy 2 get 1 free i think.

[moomoos42]

thank you, great idea, i'll follow it up

[impossible5072]

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=29055.0

I also found this if your crafty x Thinking I might make a few for my new girls when they get here.

[kegs]

 

I love the photo of Eevie's t-shirt.  It looks as if she's been caught bending over in a short skirt and she's trying to pull it down over her bottom! 

[Casey76]

We have had temps of -20C over night and daytime highs of -9C for over a week now (it is cold - I've had no running water in the hose since last Saturday as the pipes are frozen)

My hens haven't been treated any differently to the middle of summer.  they can, and do cope well with the cold (even my naked neck)

The only thing I do, is make sure they have drinking water, so I bring in their drinkers over night, so that they don't freeze, and top them up with warm water on a mrrning.

[evie2]

Ours looked like oven ready birds with their moult in the very bad snow of 2010/2011 and apart from putting a bale of hay in with the poot to take up some room, making sure the water never froze and getting Tinker out of a snow drift she flew into the weather never bothered them

[moomoos42]

Thanks everyone, you've put my mind at rest. I too had to get Agnes out of the snow, she fell in a snow covered hole the dog had dug!!

[Sassy]

Last winter we had 2 nights of -18 and last week a -12 and the night before last -16. Chooks are fine. Only thing to watch out for is frostbite on their combs. You can coat them in vaseline to prevent this.

The woolly jumpers are fine as long as they don't get wet and chill the chickens who are then unable to fluff feathers up to keep warm.

[joyfull]

last winter and this I have had birds roosting in the trees overnight and whilst they have frost on them sometimes in the mornings they are fine and healthy.
Birds tend to moult in Winter often ending up looking like ex batts and they cope pretty well too. So long as your ex-batts have become acclimatised to life outside their previous crowded, stuffy, heated sheds they should be fine.

[Sassy]

Frost on them is good as it proves their body heat is being retained and they are insulated against the frost.