Paranoid about frostbite!

[aart]

What is dripping?

 

[nab58]

What is dripping?

I think she means droppings.

 

[ChickEP]

As for the leaky waterer. Try pvc epoxy. $5 from Home Depot it's like putty. Hardens rock solid and no drips.

 

[RubyMay]

This is my first winter with chickens. I live in Nova Scotia... Our first snap of the year is here with -20 Celsius... I don't know what that is in Farenheit.
Last night some of my Roos got a touch of what I think is frost bite on their combs... The tips on some of them are blackened, one has a bit of white? The Roos affected are a bantam golden Phoenix, a speckled Sussex and a Plymouth Rock. My Wyandotte seems to be unaffected. The coop has a lot of ventilation, and I use deep litter, but am new at this, so any advice would be appreciated. The research I did suggests it is not too bad, but I want to prevent it getting worse or infected! Also, how can I tell if their feet are frost bitten?

Thanks!

 

[loveourbirds]

that sounds like frostbite on the combs. as far as their feet, keep the litter deep block most of the wind on the ground level of your coop, and do away with anything metal that they might try to roost on. when its really cold, i add a red heat lamp (250 watt) about 3 feet off the ground for them to warm up under.

edited to add: if the tips of their toes start turning black, its frostbite. our winters dont get as cold here, i have never seen it on the feet.

you can also apply vasaline to their combs to help keep them from getting frostbit.

 

[Alaskan]

The spots on the combs, or if you get some on the wattles..ignore them completely.

They will stay clean, and heal well, all on their own. The only possible hick-up is if the poultry start picking at each other. So, make sure they aren't crowded, and keep them busy.

As to feet....wide perches, WIDE perches!

Use perches where the perching surface is close to 4 inches.

If the bad stuff has already happened.. (Frostbit feet), that can be OK, or a royal pain, depends on how bad it is. Try to look at them, easiest if one person can catch them, and hold them, so you can look at the feet. Odd black spots might be frostbite. If the frostbite is on the tips of the toes, it is possible that you can do nothing and the dead part will just rot and fall off, no problems (well, I guess that isn't really a 'no problem' thing, it is disgusting, and it is painful for the chickens, the frostbit combs and wattles don't seem to bother the chickens that much...just to compare the two). Big problems are if you get frostbite in the middle of the toe, with healthy tissue on each side. Then you have to worry about infection, actual bandaging, doctoring, and still an iffy outcome.

 

[cstronks]

There is no reason to panic here. Between the warmth of the birds and inside of the coop, your birds will be fine. Unless you plan on heating the coop, which in all honesty I would not recommend, the best measure you can take is to cover the combs in vaseline. This skin protectant is very effective in preventing frostbite on combs and waddles. I apply every 3-4 days on chickens with large combs (or daily if it is around 10 degrees with precipitation) and I have not had a problem. It can actually restore much of the color to the birds combs in winter and retain heat on the head. If you do this, you will not see any frostbitten birds!

 

[Alaskan]

Oh, putting the water outside is good, reduces the humidity in the coop

 

[RubyMay]

Thanks! I don't see any marks on their feet, and it has warmed up again... Lovely Nova Scotia freeze-thaw cycle!

Their roost perches are 2"x2" (ladder style), but I have been thinking about reconfiguring them because they all try to crowd on the top perch leaving the lower bar empty... Maybe I should replace the 2"x2"s with a 1"x4" that goes all the way across the back... I don't heat the coop and don't intend to! but I did just get a heated waterer. I tried just switching back and forth between two waterers and having one thawing inside while the other was slowly icing over out in the coop, but it was a bit crazy running back and forth to the coop constantly! If the waterer is adding to th humidity, I could potentially move the waterer outside and hang it under the nest boxes, but then I would worry about them being thirsty in the evening! They like to retire inside pretty early these days. In the summer they won't go to bed until 10 pm, but now they settle in around 4:30! So if the waterer is outside they would go well over 12 hours without. It might work to encourage them to go outside on the snowy days though if that wee the only way to get water, ha!

I will try picking up some Vaseline. Anyone ever use calendula salve (oil and beeswax based)? We have that handy, and I think calendula is antibacterial... I know it is anti fungal.

 

[Alaskan]

I have my waterer outside, and mine are definitely in bed by 4:30, and they are still laying.


The winter I first had chickens up here I had 2x2 perches and ended up with bad frostbite on my heaviest birds. I think the issue is not only if the belly feathers can cover all of the toes, but that when the toes curl around a perch, the circulation isn't quite as good so more likely to get frostbite.

The ones with the frostbite in the middle of the toes I just had to cull, they were obviously in pain.

My normal outside humidity is often super high...so if it can get frostbit, it will get frostbit.

Since I switched to 4inch wide perches (dimensional lumber, so it isn't actually a full four inches), I have had NO frostbite on toes.

I do still get it on combs and wattles, if I am dumb enough to buy birds with large combs and wattles. (And I have, but I promise never never again)


And, TOTALLY with you on the waterers. That is exactly what we have been doing too, and today I finally said "enough!" So tomorrow I will find where the electric deicers are and plug some in.