How to save a comb from frostbite?

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MsFerns

MsFerns

In the Brooder
Dec 31, 2015
16
1
26
Warwick, Rhode Island
We have had unusually cold weather with wind chills down to negative 20- 40 degrees. Despite this cold all my hens still insist on going outside. Now my foghorn leghorn hen has swelling and slight discoloration on her comb. I brought her inside and have applied a warm compress to it but I am wondering what else I can do if anything to save the comb. It's not cracked and there is no blackening so I am hoping I caught it soon enough. Any tips are greatly appreciated! She is such a pretty girl, I would hate for her to lose her comb.
 
Oh dear, I am so very sorry that this is happening to your girl. You see, there are better people than myself on BYC who know more about what to do once the bird actually has frostbite, but there is a variety of things you can do to prevent it in the future. Two products that you can rub on the comb to shield it from potential problems are Vaseline (I use a generic petroleum jelly designed for babies) or Bag Balm. Another thing is plenty of ventilation in the coop to eliminate excess moisture that might form a frost on your girls. I've had to look these things up because I now have charge of a Sicilian Buttercup with a large, fleshy comb to care for. I'm sorry I don't have better advice for you!
hugs.gif


-Alex
 
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I'm going to have to look around for the bag balm; I was using Vaseline but it didn't work very well. From what I've read recently this bag balm stuff works much better.
The rest of my mixed flock seems perfectly fine. In retrospect her breed may not be the best for my area, even if this extreme cold is rare :/
 
MsFerns said:
I'm going to have to look around for the bag balm; I was using Vaseline but it didn't work very well. From what I've read recently this bag balm stuff works much better.
The rest of my mixed flock seems perfectly fine. In retrospect her breed may not be the best for my area, even if this extreme cold is rare
hmm.png
Click to expand...
I feel you there, because Sicilian Buttercups are listed as doing poorly in cold due to their large comb. Thankfully, she's been okay so far, and last night was our coldest night yet (wind chills of -18).

-Alex
 

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