- Jan 7, 2014
- 1
- 0
- 7
Hey everyone!
My name is Fawn and I am a new owner of 6 1yr old (about) white leghorn ladies. We always had chickens growing up, although I was not too involved with them. We had talked about chickens of our own in the spring, but my aunt had to rehome hers so it all happened a little early. December in New Hampshire isn't really the best time to start a chicken journey, but for the most part its worked out ok.
My question is to do frostbite on the combs and coop ventilation. My poor girls are getting yellow and black skin which I have a pretty good idea is frostbite. There is a bit of frost build up in the coop on each cold morning. I have since removed the nighttime waterer to cut back on the moisture, and drilled two 5" holes in the roof, under the roofing for ventilation. I dont see any ventilation areas in the coop other than what we added. Should I add more holes? The coop is so short, I don't want to counter productively create drafts. The interior frost is on the roof mostly, near their heads when on the roost (within 5 or 6 inches). We are building a much better coop
when all this darn white stuff melts in the spring!
As far as the frostbite, I have read to put vaseline on them. Do you recommend it, and if so, how often should I do this/and reapply? We have the occasional 15-20 below nights, but mostly hover between zero and 20 above. My girls are a little skittish, I'm hoping to, at the very least, get the 3 that have it the worst.
My name is Fawn and I am a new owner of 6 1yr old (about) white leghorn ladies. We always had chickens growing up, although I was not too involved with them. We had talked about chickens of our own in the spring, but my aunt had to rehome hers so it all happened a little early. December in New Hampshire isn't really the best time to start a chicken journey, but for the most part its worked out ok.
My question is to do frostbite on the combs and coop ventilation. My poor girls are getting yellow and black skin which I have a pretty good idea is frostbite. There is a bit of frost build up in the coop on each cold morning. I have since removed the nighttime waterer to cut back on the moisture, and drilled two 5" holes in the roof, under the roofing for ventilation. I dont see any ventilation areas in the coop other than what we added. Should I add more holes? The coop is so short, I don't want to counter productively create drafts. The interior frost is on the roof mostly, near their heads when on the roost (within 5 or 6 inches). We are building a much better coop
when all this darn white stuff melts in the spring!
As far as the frostbite, I have read to put vaseline on them. Do you recommend it, and if so, how often should I do this/and reapply? We have the occasional 15-20 below nights, but mostly hover between zero and 20 above. My girls are a little skittish, I'm hoping to, at the very least, get the 3 that have it the worst.
