I can only offer from my experience.
if you got the chicken droppings in it and other manure, that nitrogen will get the other organic materials kicked off and heating up even in the coldest winter as long as it is all in one pile.
I dont know about soaking it down but maybe a bit of moisture might be good, and also this is the time of year in many North American places where a bunch of rain starts to occur.
I will never forget one Christmas holiday a large mound , small mountain, of compost had a few a few too many crushed seeds in it. snow and ice was everywhere, this pile of compost erupted into a blazing inferno that could be seen for at least a mile. there's more to the story but that's it in a nutshell. if there's a good combination of organics in your pile it will heat up and compost just about no matter how cold it gets