We live in north GA and despite stacking straw, adding heat lamps and insulating our coop, some of our free rangers still decided to sleep in the trees on our coldest nights. Temps were in the single digits and wind chills were 10 below. The next day, some of the roosters that stayed outside had dark purple (not black) spots on their combs. Its been about a week and several of the spots have disappeared...but a few of the boys still have purple patches on their combs. Today, i noticed that the roosters that had the worst looking spots have started to develop blisters on the frostbitten patches. I have read that this means the comb is healing, but i am concerned if i might need to dub any of the roosters combs now. How long should i wait to see if they heal on their own before make the decision to remove the comb? Or do i need to worry about this at all? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
It got to -10 here & i coated the combs and waddles with vasaline. Mine didnt have much of an issue. Ive heard people say they wash the area really well, sometimes it falls off. If it gets infected you might need to get it trimmed. There are great articles on here. Best of luck & i hope someone with more experience on frost bite comments
You might try putting some non pain killing or relieving ointment on his comb. Be sure that none of the ingredients in it end in "-caine" as this is toxic to chickens. Hope he heals!
Thanks y'all! I am doctoring as i can catch them.Our free range flock is pretty flighty. I managed to snag the worst looking one last night while he was going up to roost. His comb does look to be healing...hoping for the best!
The combs will probably heal fine; a few tips may be lost, but unless the whole comb becomes dead and/or infected, you won't need to dub. If you want to help prevent infection, put some antibiotic ointment (with no caine/cain ingredients) on the combs. To help improve circulation, you can also rub VetRX or Vicks Vapor Rub on the comb and massage it gently.
