Any suggestions on how to solve our frostbite problem?

[sumatra lover]

Oh my goodness! Well we live in Maryland and we usually have normal temperatures but these past few days our temps went into the negatives and wind chills were -45 degrees! Our chickens and quail however survived these temps. We kept one of our flocks in our barn with plenty of hay with no cracks and we have our second flock In our coop an made sure the windows shut and there was plenty of dry food and defrosted water..I usually give warm water a few times a day that also helps. For our rooster- if we notice that his jiggles are dark in places we put bag balm on it and that has seemed to work for us and no problems with frostbite!

 

[Joan71]

Of course a chicken can live without their wattles and comb but both do serve a purpose, heat regulation.

Thanks for the above info. I didn't know what the purpose of the wattle was before now. Makes sense. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Triple Willow]

Never mind my rooster just died ( very very very sad)

I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[Triple Willow]

Thanks for the above info. I didn't know what the purpose of the wattle was before now. Makes sense.  Thanks for sharing with us.

You're welcome. The horns on other animals serve a similar purpose. I'm glad roosters don't have horns! LOL

 

[Triple Willow]

No, Agaricus Muscarius is not a prescription, it's a Homeopathic Remedy. Some health food stores may carry it local to you, just call & ask. abchomeopathy.com is one site you can order it online for @ $10 or less.  I like using Homeopathics alot as I don't have to worry about not eating eggs when I worm or what could potentially be absorbed by the hen and later I could be consuming. 

Thanks for that info. I prefer the natural way of doing things too, for animals and people.

 

[indyfarmgirl]

We keep heated water bowls and heat lamps in our coops when the temperature drops below freezing. We currently have 20 hens and 9 roosters and have been experiencing temperatures as low as -15 and wind chill temps as low as -45. We have never experienced any frostbite. We Consider ourselves very lucky.

 

[Triple Willow]

We keep heated water bowls and heat lamps in our coops when the temperature drops below freezing. We currently have 20 hens and 9 roosters and have been experiencing temperatures as low as -15 and wind chill temps as low as -45. We have never experienced any frostbite. We Consider ourselves very lucky.

That is great unless you were to lose your electricity because then your birds will suddenly be plunged into much colder temps and they will suffer greatly. I think it is better to allow them to get use to the cold in a draft free and dry place naturally. They are not as weak and tender as we think. Mine proved that to me this week.

But I am glad you have had no frostbite problems.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

You know,I would hardly qualify as an expert,having been in the chicken hobby for about 8 months.However,I was brought up on a farm and have lived on a farm most of my 71 years.
Our coop is 12'x18',is insulated and contains 50 birds.43 are 4 months old and 7 are 8 months old.The coop is insulated and I use a bathroom fan for ventilation.Two 250 watt heat lamps are used for heat.The other night(I live near Ottawa Ontario so check it out)The temperature dropped to minus 35 Fahrenheit.Temperature inside the coop was between26 and 28 degrees for those two days.Aside from that it never went below freezing.I just went out to check at 10:20 Eastern time and it is 5 degrees with a 20mph wind from the west.Temperature inside the coop is 43 degrees.No frozen combs,no frozen water just happy chickens.Why make them suffer?

My thoughts exactly and to save electric and work, we installed thermostat outlets on at 35 degrees and off at 45 degrees, and you would be surprised at how cold it feels outside to us and they are already off! Best $11.00 investment for my Breeding flock yet! and the cool thing is it controls two outlets! And no I dont have stock in them! here is a link to the info on them...

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...&sa=X&ei=gKlqUtW5D8aK2gXi2oEw&ved=0CHgQ8wIwAA

 

[deacons]

I'm really frustrated because I am in the same situation as the original poster. My coop has adequate ventilation, and my internal temp/humidity monitor indicates the indoor humidity is roughly between 40-50% on any given day. To me, that seems reasonable, as it is generally the same as or lower than external humidity (which obviously I can't control!). I do not have any frost or ice forming inside the coop. There is no water in the coop, and it is bed with very deep pine shavings and two straw bales inside along the front of the coop which is most exposed.

I have three hens with frostbite that is definitely in the black stages, not just on tips of combs but covering some portion of the comb itself. When the bad cold began, they were given vaseline on the combs as "prevention," but I don't feel that made any difference. In fact, I rubbed on so thick, that I think it matted down the short feathers around their comb and prevented them from puffing up those feathers for comb protection (which I saw my hens with pea combs doing). Once the vaseline rubbed combs became black, I applied Neosporin. This seemed to help with some temporary healing, but for 2 out of the 3, the black has not gone away (this is now about 2-3 weeks into it). When touched, the combs feel very dry and somewhat hard, though still pliable.

Two days ago I did a bit of an experiment. I have 2 Golden Comets with about the same amount of frostbite (though one has slightly longer tips left). I reapplied Neosporin to one Goldie, but not the other. The one WITH neosporin still has a pretty black comb. The one without has more red color returning. This was not what I was hoping to see.

I just don't know what else to do, but hate seeing them like this. They just can't get any relief from the cold, in or out of the coop, so I think this may be with them for awhile.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

heat makes it worse? i dont understand.

Granny, hot air holds more moisture or humidity. They call it RELITIVE humidity because the amount of humidity in the air is relative to the temperature of that air.