Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[featherz]

I have white leghorns with huge combs and I gave up on the vaseline fairly early. It didn't seem to help at all and led to dirty greasy white birds. We had high humidity everywhere, so all my ventilation didn't help much. They did get a bit of frostbite, but healed up well.

 

[wyododge]

Quote:
I'd love to hear what the "OT's" have to say about this, as I'm curious. I'm not a newbie, not an OT. Still learning. I think if I ever get to a place where I think I know it all about poulty, it's probably time for me to bow out. Anyway - I've tried Bag Balm, Vaseline, and even a prescription cream for burn victims - none of them worked for me. I hope someone has an answer other than "heat your coop."

Yea, I really don't want to have to heat the coop if I don't have to. I thought that might make it worse since it might cause condensation. I don't have a heat light right now and I'm afraid a regular white light might cause them to get day and night confused. My Dad tried that once and when I went in later, 5 were up and acting like it was morning...

Not sure about your coop or your design, but... I try to do my best to not place bandaids on problems, as nothing is really solved (or at least there is a higher chance of not being solved)

I would look at trying to fix the why. Meaning to look at what can be done to the stop the problem, instead of just protecting the comb. There may be something lurking in the background.

Not enough ventilation?
Can't really have to much, but to much ventilation?
Bird health?
Air quality in the coop?
Feeding habits?
Any others birds with the same problem?
Roosting space?
Poo (deep liter method or some other method)?
Birds being disturbed? (predation, traffic, etc.)
Lighting outside?
What was the weather like? calm, high humidity, high winds, etc.


In a TAPROOT investigation, we basically keep asking why. Ask the first question, why is only one comb freezing. Every time you identify a possible problem, ask why. Best to do it on a white board and make a flow chart, so you don't loose your mind. Generally speaking, it takes about 5 levels to get at the real problem. Good part is, down that deep into the original situation, you will find that many other issues will be solved as well.

With that said, you may find that you just happen to have a bird that is susceptible to frostbite, but you will have gained a great deal of knowledge in the process.

Did that even help???

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
It there a chance there is not enough ventilation in your hen house? Humidity will cause what you describe.... We made sure (when we lived in IL) that we had plenty of venting up near the roof for moisture to escape.

Now live in AZ and have for many years so do not have that worry now, best of luck.

 

[TinyChickenLady]

Quote:
Yea, I really don't want to have to heat the coop if I don't have to. I thought that might make it worse since it might cause condensation. I don't have a heat light right now and I'm afraid a regular white light might cause them to get day and night confused. My Dad tried that once and when I went in later, 5 were up and acting like it was morning...

Not sure about your coop or your design, but... I try to do my best to not place bandaids on problems, as nothing is really solved (or at least there is a higher chance of not being solved)

I would look at trying to fix the why. Meaning to look at what can be done to the stop the problem, instead of just protecting the comb. There may be something lurking in the background.

Not enough ventilation?
Can't really have to much, but to much ventilation?
Bird health?
Air quality in the coop?
Feeding habits?
Any others birds with the same problem?
Roosting space?
Poo (deep liter method or some other method)?
Birds being disturbed? (predation, traffic, etc.)
Lighting outside?
What was the weather like? calm, high humidity, high winds, etc.


In a TAPROOT investigation, we basically keep asking why. Ask the first question, why is only one comb freezing. Every time you identify a possible problem, ask why. Best to do it on a white board and make a flow chart, so you don't loose your mind. Generally speaking, it takes about 5 levels to get at the real problem. Good part is, down that deep into the original situation, you will find that many other issues will be solved as well.

With that said, you may find that you just happen to have a bird that is susceptible to frostbite, but you will have gained a great deal of knowledge in the process.

Did that even help???

I did help, yes

Thank you. I'm going to check some of those factors. The reason it is only affecting him is because he's the only one with a comb that size. He's the biggest boy with the most red.
There are no outside lights in their direction after 7 pm. Also, the only other animal living in our backyard is a small rabbit.
He is only one of two birds using that particular corner of the coop, so he has LOTS of roost space.
The weather, this week, has been frigid cold with occasional high winds. They all run inside when the wind picks up.
I will be cleaning out their coop and adding a few more inches of bedding.
He's a very healthy chicken and a very good eater. He also gets scratch and a treat every day.
I thought they had plenty of ventilation but I will see what I can do about it.

Thanks so much for all your advice. I'll definately be using your list to help me prevent any further frostbite.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
LMAO that made me laugh, I remember a little one swallowing a HUGE bug too! Wow did that crop ever stick out afterwards LOL.

 

[wyododge]

Maybe a better question is how the heck do I NOT quote myself and look like a dingleberry... <sigh>

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Totally agree. I do the nipples on the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket myself and it works very well, no leaking. I happened to have the right size drill in the first place so that probably helped, between that and not using a thin container like the gallon jug (guilty though, I've used them and didn't like it).

What you say about the alfalfa, etc. makes complete sense to me, After having had horses myself for a number of years. I don't now, they're too expensive but I can see exactly what you mean and am only too familiar with colic, usually in other people's horses though. I only had one colic myself and it was a new one that I hadn't had long. I did spend many a night long vigil helping others with theirs though. They can colic on anything really. And I think it's like you say and the way you relate that to chickens makes good sense too.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I don't heat and live in one the coldest places in the lower 48. Heck, we're always 5-10 degrees colder than even a county a few miles away, due to our unique micro-climate. So, FWIW, this my oft repeated mantra, keep cold hardy breeds, because I cannot heat a barn, I'm not going to fuss with Vasoline (which gets filthy) and we are just not going to dodge the -20 and -30 nights. I'm here and I have to learn to deal with it.

After you've done your proper ventilation and if you are still getting some frostbite and if that bothers you, I'd highly suggest doing what our fore parents did. They developed and kept rose comb and small combed birds. There are plenty of good breeds from which to choose.

Boxing up the roosters on those handful of bitter nights is a good idea. Here, we just have way too many of those nights.

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
Sometimes, I use lemongrass, rosemary amd lavender in my nest boxes. Sounds weird, I know but I have so much and they need pruning. Plus, it's supposed to be bug repellant and it really does smell nice for a couple of weeks.
Strange things is, they doe munch on it a little, even though chickens aren't supposed to like woody herbs or lemongrass.
Next spring, I'm considering planting a great deal of lemongrass in the runs. It grows really well, even in the shade, it's pretty and fairly chicken proof. Bug repellant and I'm hoping it will give things a tropical look.
Use what you have. I use pine straw ( pine needles) raked from the yard and alfalfa hay raked up from the hay stack for my coop bedding. It breaks down and makes a lovely compost for the garden. Much better, IMO, than wood shavings, which take a long time to break down and can rob the garden of nutrients.
I've not noticed my chickens eating the hay stems but they get a large grain bag full of alfalfa hay raked off the ground once a week. I try to get as many leaves as possible and it's top quality alfalfa for my horses. Since it's fallen off the bales, it's mainly leaves, few stems.
But, when I lived in OK, both NE and SW, we had all sorts of hay. Cheap quality prairie hay, Bermuda hay and alfalfa. The chickens spent a great deal of time under the feet of horses and cattle, in the stalls cleaning up the leftovers and in the hay barn scratching through the hay. I'm certain they ate a little of everything but I never once saw even a questionable crop. My only losses were predator related.
In CO, we fed only alfalfa so it was similar to here, except I was able to free range on 120 acres, unlike here.

 

[bobbi-j]

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I think the final consesus was: Hay could cause crop impaction, but not necessarily. It could depend on the type of hay, your chickens' digestive health, and any number of other things. I have fed my chickens hay (both grassy hays, and alfalfa) in the winter and have had no problem. Honestly, I had never even heard of crop impaction before I read about it on BYC.