Black line on Leo's crown

[Loupup98]

My 9-10 month old rooster, Leo, developed black tips on his crown, overnight on Friday. I assumed he must've gotten a little frostbite as our windchills got down to -34 F. He roosts in our barn which is quite drafty near the doors. Today I went out to check on him and the tips are rosey red again but now the black, almost perfect line, has moved lower to the middle of his crown. When the tips were black, yesterday, the rest of the comb was nice and rosey. Is this just part of the healing process with frostbite or does it indicate a different health concern? I have had him for 2 months and have never seen this happen to him before!

 

[Eggcessive]

That is a case of frostbite, and his wattles look to have a bit also. It can take a week or two sometimes to see how much damage may occur. I have had some look completely fine afterward, but then some will become brown and then rounded off, either a few tips or all of them. I usually do not do anything for frostbite. The main thing is to not handle the comb as it is extremely painful, and any massaging can cause mire damage. With those kind of temperatures, it is hard to not have frostbite on large combs. Most tolerate it, and their smaller combs next year will not suffer so much damage. Here is some reading anout frostbite:
https://articles.extension.org/pages/70255/frostbite-in-chickens

https://www.hobbyfarms.com/6-ways-to-avoid-frostbite-in-your-chickens-3/

 

[Loupup98]

Thank you! He can be hard to catch so I was hoping he would figure out how to take care of himself in there. I have heard vaseline before the temps drop can help but I wasnt able to catch him that day to test the theory! I have a coop but my pullets are too small for him to room with them yet. I will keep an eye on him.

 

[Eggcessive]

You might want to crate him inside their coop, to stay warmer, but so he cannot get to them.

 

[Criticalicious]

Vaseline doesn't really help with frostbite. That's a wives' tale. The best it can do is reduce dryness.

 

[Loupup98]

You might want to crate him inside their coop, to stay warmer, but so he cannot get to them.

I might have to, i adopted him 2 months ago so i had planned to only keep him in isolation for 30 days before introducing him but then I found out that they should (my hens) be closer to laying and full grown before turning them all loose together. I might have to rig something up. There is plenty of straw and 10 calves in the barn to help with body heat but he likes those rafters by the west/nw facing door for some reason and of course that is where all the wind comes in!

 

[Criticalicious]

How old are your pullets? If they're big enough, they may fend off the roo just fine. I have 2 that still don't accept the roo's advances. It's hilarious to watch. Once I saw him grab one by the neck, she squawked and yelled, turned around and backed out of his embrace. He is still quite miffed by their rebukes, but he also doesn't want to hurt his girls so he stops when they do this.

As long as they have somewhere to get away, they should be alright.