It's been cold here in Florida. In fact it's been colder here lately than it has in the past 5 years. One morning this past week I noticed my little girl Frenchy didn't get out of the coop with her sisters. She's an old girl a Silkie - probably 10-12 years old. When I first got her a couple of years ago she would occasionally lay the cutest little brown eggs but I haven't gotten one from her in over a year. So I opened the hutch and see she was breathing but had her eyes closed. I kept an eye on her expecting her to be dead every time I walked out to check on her. But every time she was still breathing but kept her eyes closed. As it got closer to the evening I decided to bring her in and put her in a box. Although I figured she was dying of old age just in case she had something else I didn't want to expose the other girls to her plus I hated the thought of her lying dead in the coop. Then I cleaned the coop and put fresh bedding in there just in case she was sick with something.
So I brought her in and wrapped her in a blanket and put her in a box in our back hall where it is dark and quiet. Then I told Shad to go dig a hole for me so I could bury her the next morning. The next day was going to be cold and rainy and I didn't want to have to dig a hole in the rain. And there was no way I was going to keep a dead chicken in my house all day.
So the next morning I went to check on her and when I opened the box....Frenchy started clucking and looked up at me!!!! Then I gave her some water. After a bit I thought I'd take her out to see her friends. They were all in the garage eating cat food, since it was raining. Frenchy hopped over to them and started eating...LOL So I let her stay out with them some and then would put her back in the box inside for awhile. She began to peck the box. Finally I left her out with the girls and they all headed to the coop for the night and Frenchy waddled after them. She jumped up on the plank and walked in! That was a few days ago and everything has been fine. Tonight is going to be in the 20's so I did put her in her box inside the house where she'll stay warm.
Oh and I filled in the grave....didn't need it anymore:)
We live in Texas and it has been colder than usual here this year also. My chickens got mad and stopped laying. I put two heat lamps in their coop just to knock the chill off, and those heifers have been laying 7-8 eggs a day! Rotten things! Apparently they really just don’t like being cold…
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