Aftermath of -20° wind chill in nebraska

[Mudpuddle]

This is what I came home to after work today...

 

[chicmom]

OHHH, so sorry to see that poor rooster's comb and your cracked eggs! BRRRR! Soooo cold! I would coat all the combs with vaseline.

 

[coloradochick]

Oh I know how you feel. My poor roos comb is black black. I put vaseline on it but I think I got it too late so we'll see what happens.....

And the eggs

doesn't it feel like such a waste for the girls..I always feel like they look at me as I'm picking them from the nest and say "Gee thanks for nothing, we're out here working our hineys off laying eggs and you can't get out here before now!!!!!"

 

[happyhensny]

Absolutely hate that stuff! Wasted eggs, poor chooks combs all frosted. Dang cold weather. Sorry.

 

[Vamvakas]

Wow, so far here where I live it's been pretty mild for winter and no snow yet. Can a rooster die with that frost bite on his comb? I blame the Canadian artic air!

 

[teach1rusl]

Awww...poor fella.

Time to get some windbreaks up!

 

[Donna5]

Poor roo. It seems every day I add another layer of plastic sheeting, or bales of straw, or tarps. After a very mild winter we had our first snow yesterday and I hear the wind is coming. I think I need another tarp............

 

[LilyD]

We are hitting another cold snap up here not supposed to get above 10 during the day and will dip to up to 10 below at night. I tried the vaseline but it seems that even with it they still get a bit frost bit. I think a big part of it is they won't stay in the coop when the weather gets really bad. They still prefer to be out and foraging even though it's bad. I have started to shut them in when it gets really bad so that they have no choice but to stay warm and that seems to work better.

Boy I still can't wait for spring though.

Hope your boy does well I will keep my fingers crossed for him.

 

[HiddenHens987]

It got cold around here again but its only lasting for a couple of days before we are back to near average temps. It was 13 degrees this morning with a windchill of 3. Only making it into the lower 20's today but windchills may not get out of the single digits. I kept the girls confined to the coop today due to the extreme cold.. They don't seem to mind it too much!
Hope your Roo heals up quickly!

 

[Alethea]

I'm so sorry that happened. Your poor rooster probably won't die unless his comb gets infected. Try to keep it clean as the dead tissue sluffs off. I've read that roosters can become sterile from frostbitten combs. I don't know how severe it has to be for that to happen. I've also read that hens can stop laying because of frostbite. Two of our pullets got frostbite, not as severely as your rooster, in December and have been laying as usual.