BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[bnjrob]

Quote:
I've heard folks have luck with coating the combs with Vaseline to protect them from the moisture when it's cold.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I've heard folks have luck with coating the combs with Vaseline to protect them from the moisture when it's cold.

Thanks, but I'm reluctant to do that for a couple of reasons- primarily because I want to fix the problem if I can.
I'm also in the process of eliminating single combs from my flock, but it will take a few years to get there. But even the rooster's pea comb got frostbite :-( so there's something obviously terribly wrong.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Sometimes birds fling water around while they are drinking...(take a drink, then shake the head). If it lands on combs it can cause frostbite. Might try observing to see if there is water-flinging going on.

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
Re: the RIR x Buckeye cross they are going to be an awesome layer!

And I'm located in Nova Scotia (in the Annapolis Valley, close to the Bay of Fundy) our Humidity is very high (I'm not sure what it is like in your area). I've sadly come to accept it is very very hard to get the proper ventilation in the coop's with chilling the birds. Our biggest problem here that takes most by shock is we have chill you to your bone cold and it really does get into your bones. So I can only assume it can chill chickens just as badly if not worse.

Also frostbite is not the best thing. However I also think of it as a natural dubbing - and if your birds are of good quality you may keep birds that are one or two years old in your breeding program, and if you do you won't face frostbite again the next year, or at least shouldn't in my experience.

 

[bnjrob]

Sometimes birds fling water around while they are drinking...(take a drink, then shake the head). If it lands on combs it can cause frostbite. Might try observing to see if there is water-flinging going on.

This happens with some of ours when the temps are too cold for their nipple buckets and I have to keep open bowls of water in the pens so I can easily break the ice on the water. We've also had some cocks that preferred to sleep with their heads almost hanging out the door of their houses so that their combs were in direct line of the wind and they wound up with their comb tips frostbitten.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Sometimes birds fling water around while they are drinking...(take a drink, then shake the head). If it lands on combs it can cause frostbite. Might try observing to see if there is water-flinging going on.

Thankfully I don't seem to see water flinging but it's possible they get their wattles wet. I remove the water from the coop when the chickens go to bed at night since it would freeze anyway.
I'm not even sure when the chickens got the frostbite- it might not have even been in the coop, they do like to go outside unless it's dreadful out. We really have not had what I'd consider cold weather this year but it certainly has been unusually damp. They have covered shelters with straw so their feet don't freeze. A bit of frostbite on the comb is not good, but if their feet freeze that's unacceptable.

 

[hellbender]

Thanks, but I'm reluctant to do that for a couple of reasons- primarily because I want to fix the problem if I can.
I'm also in the process of eliminating single combs from my flock, but it will take a few years to get there. But even the rooster's pea comb got frostbite :-( so there's something obviously terribly wrong.

putting a thin layer of lube on their combs and wattles would likely take care of the problem.

 

[DesertChic]

Hey all just checking in again. How are projects going? What's everyone working on?

I'm was extremely excited to find cucumber seeds sprouting in one of my aquaponics beds this morning.

So far all of my transplants are doing well (two varieties of tomato, butternut squash, kale, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, and broccoli) and these are the first seeds to sprout right there in that enriched water. And the fish are growing VERY quickly. They've already outgrown the net I used to transfer them into their tank! Now I'm just wanting to see if any of the other seeds sprout of if I'll have to start them indoors as I did with the other transplants. It's a very fun project for me.

 

[Kev]

I'm was extremely excited to find cucumber seeds sprouting in one of my aquaponics beds this morning.

So far all of my transplants are doing well (two varieties of tomato, butternut squash, kale, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, and broccoli) and these are the first seeds to sprout right there in that enriched water. And the fish are growing VERY quickly. They've already outgrown the net I used to transfer them into their tank! Now I'm just wanting to see if any of the other seeds sprout of if I'll have to start them indoors as I did with the other transplants. It's a very fun project for me.

Congrats! Sometimes I think it would be pretty nice to have that kind of set up here... afraid it's not very feasible for me due to the time/work/climate(too hot/too cold for everything it seems.. sigh)

 

[bnjrob]

Quote:
I'm so jealous! Congrats! I swore I was going to at least have tomato seeds started by New Year's. Now it's nearly Feb and still nothing started. But we are still drowning in mud here and the pond is draining through the garden every time it rains, 1 to 2 times a week.