Despite looking everywhere in the barn, on Wednesday evening, Nancy could not find the white chicken, Avro. She is usually found cuddled up in a nest box, or at the feeding station, so her absence was quite notable. It was dark outside, and a quick look around the stable area did not reveal any bundle of feathers. It was, in short, a small mystery.
At these cold temperatures, the chickens are reluctant to go outside at all, and as dusk settles, they all head back into the heated, lighted coop at the end of the stable.
Reasoning that Avro must have gone to roost hiding somewhere in the stable, possibly encouraged in finding a hiding place by the bouncy new puppy Taffy who delights in racing up and down the stable aisle (but only chases chickens that run away from her), Nancy closed up the stable for the night.
That night, the mercury fell to 30 below. Arriving at the stable next morning, there was still no Avro in the stable. But... when Nancy opened up the end door to let the horses out to their round bale of hay, there was, sitting all huddled up and looking as ticked off as a chicken can possibly look, Avro. She must have gone outside when the horses came in for the evening. She had spent a cold, miserable night fluffed up roosting on the wooden fence, and had no objections to being scooped up and brought back indoors. There was no sign of frostbite on her comb, and she was bright and active, glad to be at the feeding station and inside.
She did, however, spend the rest of the day on the highest roost in the coop, as close to the heat lamp as a chicken can get. We can hardly blame her!
To update, Avro is doing fine. She DID have some frostbite -- the very tips of her small comb blackened, but she is recovering nicely. Still sitting close to the heater, however.
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