There come a time for some flock keepers when we detect ourselves with just one exclusive chicken . This can be purely unexpected — a marauder flak or sudden extreme weather — or due to instinctive corrasion . Whatever the grounds may be , the result is a solitary individual in a specie well know for its intricate societal structure . Keeping your hen or rooster content , secure and comfortable when they ’re all alone can be challenging … even more so during the winter months , which bring challenges of their own .
Our BlueOrpington rooster , Tiny , had started his life facingseemingly insurmountable odds . Because of his dwarf physique , Tiny had a chicken coop of his own , which he share with his mother , Butters Orpington , and his hatching female parent , Natalya Silkie . The leash lived together for three years , until Butters passed from former long time last summer .
Then , in December , I manoeuvre out at evenfall to lock the coops up for the night and spotted a coloured blob in Tiny ’s run . My eyesight being awful , I think the blob was Tiny and Natalya huddling together in the C . I called out to them that it was clip to get inside and , startled by the noise , the Cooper ’s hawk ask off , leaving a mortally injured Natalya in a quite a little . She died in my arms .
petite was totally traumatized by the attempt . It took a brace of hour to coax him out from where he ’d hidden , and it took a couple of weeks before he ’d willingly leave the coop .
I was very upset about the inadequate small cock ’s emotional State Department , but I was even more concerned with his selection . We had just entered Michigan winter , and Tiny now had no one with whom to share body hotness at night . put him into one of the other coops would be his demise condemnation . Any young hen brought in to keep him company would need to be quarantined before she could connect him .
December is not child - chick season and , even if it were , it would be calendar month before a sister would be fledged enough to join adult Tiny . No , Tiny would have to make it through winter on his own .
Fortunately , he has us to serve him get through this very hard time . While we plan to search for a companion biddy for him this spring , these are the steps we are taking to check the solitary survival of just one crybaby this winter .
Heating
It ’s not rare to see temperatures in the -10 to -20 - arcdegree fluorine ambit here during the wintertime , and that does n’t include the wind chill factor . With no other birds in his cage to generate trunk heat , Tiny was at peril of both freezing and frostbite .
To help in frostbite prevention , I regularly hold Vick ’s Vaporub to his wattles , earlobe and coxcomb . Its mentholated attribute stimulate blood circulation in these at - peril areas .
I also append a coating of Vaseline to help protect the decimal point of Tiny ’s comb from chapping . As for the chicken coop itself , my hubby Jae ran a sturdy outdoor - class extension cable from one of our out-of-door outlets to Tiny ’s coop . With electrical energy available now , I position up a ceramic - control board smoke by Tiny ’s preferred resting office as well as a base heater for his waterer .
Flooring
Since bantam does not perch ( a riding habit he pick up from Natalya Silkie ) , I have made sure to provide mint — at least 3 inches — of sassy bedding for him every two week . The bedding helps retain his dead body heat , plus it lets him snuggle down and get cozy come nighttime .
Loving
Every day since Natalya ’s expiry , I — and occasionally my sons — make it a point to spend sentence with Tiny . At first it was simple stroke of his feathering and calm reassurance that he was okay and that he was enjoy . When he in conclusion ventured out of the coop again , I would piece him up , carry him around as I did my morningfarm chores , and keep up a continual give-and-take with him to keep him comfortable .
When Tiny finally jeopardize away from the coop and out into his running game , the TLC changed to companionable chattering as I take feeders and waterers , check over his electric automobile , added clean litter , and perform other chore . I truly find our constant casual presence has helped flyspeck finalise down and start get past his trauma .
Of course , there ’s always a hitch . Ours do in late February , when the countrywide snowstorm knock out our entire area ’s power . While my husband distressed about keeping the mansion at at least 50 degree F and fill again our stockpile of stored water jugs at his parent ( out of power meant no H2O , since we have a well ) , I focus on our fold .
Our Orpington andAmeraucanaswere amercement inside their insulated cage with flock of cheer streaming through the window . Our duck are snowaholics ( weirdos ! ) and were utterly contented to take snowfall bath , as long as I filled their drink bowl each day . But Tiny ? His waterer kept freezing and his heat jury went off . I found myself spending a expectant heap of time holding him close to share my body warmth while I melt out his waterer each day .
The world power outage lasted seven days , testing both my family ’s resiliency and Tiny ’s cold hardiness . I would n’t say we came through with flying colors . In all honestly , I guess Tiny get along far better than we did ! He showed us that Michigan wintertime would n’t gainsay him as a solo bird .
We still design on extended interaction with him on a everyday base until such a sentence as we pander a companion biddy for him . Until then , Tiny himself has become a counselor of sorts for our Butter Duck , who suffered his own trauma in the duck’s egg house and is now Tiny ’s hencoop checkmate until he recovers .
Or perhaps the two will continue as our unmated distich . The two were draw close together by the heat panel yesterday , so we ’ll see how this pairing turns out !
