Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[Falkor]

Hi All,

 

Got some bad news yesterday, my grandad died.

 

The funeral is next Wednesday and me and OH will be travelling back to Great Yarmouth on the Tuesday to assist with the sandwiches etc. Will be back late Wed night.

 

Will my girls be ok with the Eglu door open over night?

 

Normally mother-in-law would come over and sort them but she is in New Zealand for Christmas. And mate who said he would sort them if need be is working away next week.

 

We have not had any snow and are not due any but it is ruddy cold! I have solved the water freezing issue with a ping pong ball so it is just the chicken freezing issue.

 

The run in pegged down and I will put some bricks on the skirt to make it extra heavy. they have winter shade and summer shade over run, up at the eglu end to prevent breezes. They don`t roost on the bars and have a cat litter tray of straw and shredded paper that they sleep in.

 

It sounds like it will be warm but I am not sure.......

 

Advice, knowledge and experiences welcomed and needed!

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Grandad .

 

I'm sure your girls will be fine - lots of people leave their eglu doors open all year round, in all weathers .

[Gamebird]

So sorry to hear about your grandad.

 

I think your chickens will be fine with the eglu door left open while you are away.

 

They do cope very well with cold weather. I had to check my chickens one evening after they had gone to bed. I was dressed to the nines because it was freezing but the chickens were as warm as toast when I picked them up.

 

I'm sure there will be lots of people on this forum who will reassure you.

[Egluntyne]

Very sorry to hear about your Grandad.

 

Your girls will be fine overnight with the door left open.

 

I never close mine.

[Snowy]

I agree, especially if you have a cover over the eglu end of the run - it does keep any draughts down. Sorry to hear about your Grandad

[Janty]

The girls will be fine, I'm sure. I sometimes forget to close the eglu door and they have never come to any harm. We haven't got any bad weather forecast in our part of the world so they should be ok.

 

Sorry to hear about your news,

 

Jan

[alih]

I never shut my door either - they are always warm and toasty and yours will be fine

[stoice]

Sorry to hear about your Grandad

 

The way I see it is they have their own personal duvet and friends to cuddle up to. Garden birds like robins, sparrows and wrens survive our winters and they have no mates to cuddle up to, no straw lined house to sleep in - just a branch to cling on to.

 

I'm sure your girls will be fine.

[jomaxsmith]

Sorry to hear about your grandad, hope you're all ok.

 

I left my girls overnight recently on that really cold night when snow was forecast. They were fine. I did ask my neighbour to come over with some hot water in the morning to de-ice the Glug but wouldn't ask her to open/close the door as for one thing she's a bit scatty and she'd probably forget to let them out, and the other thing is my garden is a bit treacherous and I'd hate someone to fall and hurt themselves.

 

Do you have a neighbour you could ask? Checking the water doesn't involve undoing the doors or anything, just making sure they don't pour boiling water on a chicken

 

Jo

[Barkisland]

Sorry to hear about your Grandpa

I'm sure it will be fine to leave your girls for a couple of days.

I've just been away from Sat early am to Mon evening, and I left my cube door open (inside a secure run, obviously).

My girls appear to have been fine - they were very pleased to see me this morning, since I was at work when they went to bed on Friday and left early Saturday morning.

I wrapped the drinkers in bubble wrap 'hats' and it seems to have helped stop the water freezing solid.

I know you will worry about them, I certainly did, but they are animals and well adapted to cope with cold weather, as long as they have suffiecient food and shelter of some sort.