Freezing Fog & Frostbite, Now what do I do?

[Crabella]

We have been experiencing multiple nights of freezing fog. Now some of my flock show signs of frostbite. I have good ventilation in the coop. How do I combat high humidity in the coop when the outdoor humidity is 80-100%? I have no electricity in the coop, but could run an extension cord out there if that is what I need to do. We live in central WA, and normaly have very low humidity. I am at a loss as to what to do, and am thinking my only option is to add a heat source of some sort to "dry" the air, and treat the frostbite. What is the best treatment for that?
They have a tarped, but uncovered run, that they refuse to use since it snowed. They just look at me like I have stark raving mad..
I'll be

and hope someone has some suggestions for me.

 

[dsqard]

Is the frostbite only on their combs? I have read that putting vaseline on the combs helps prevent frostbite. Hope this helps.

 

[Imp]

Hi Crabella,

I'm in the Seattle area, so have not been getting the severe weather you have. You might want to check in on the Washingtonians thread. There's a lot of people there from east of the mountains that can help you. If you are getting frostbite I think I would run that extension cord.

Good luck

Imp

 

[Crabella]

Thanks for your responses. I tried the vaseline, but could not catch my roo. He doesn't roost with everyone else. I'm not sure if he can't get his hefty-hiney up there or if he just prefers the floor. In any case, he has a favorite corner to snuggle in. Of course it is the one on the NW corner of the coop, under the window... goofy bird. I tried going out after dark, but he scuttles under the roost where I can't reach him.

We don't usually get such cold temps, at least not so early in the season. Thing is, they all made it thru that. It was the 3 nights we had freezing fog that caused the frostbite. I think next time it is forecast, I will be running some sort of heat out there. I have the extension cord run out there now, just a matter of hooking something up. I bought some blue-coat spray to put on the frostbite on his comb. Now just have to figure out how to catch him, so I can get the stuff on his comb...

I fully expect to

before I actually do get my hands on him.

I've been taking out warm water 2-3 times a day and giving them warm feed 2x a day. I must be doing something right, egg production went up from 3-5 eggs a day to 7-9... and I didn't add extra light... my DH laughs at me for "cooking" for my birds, wants to know if I'll be knitting little hats for them next, but he was out there with me to put up the tarps on the run. He has been very surprised to find out how much personality they have, and though he won't admit it, is enjoying them almost as much as me.

 

[ivan3]

Crabella wrote:
I've been taking out warm water 2-3 times a day and giving them warm feed 2x a day. I must be doing something right, egg production went up from 3-5 eggs a day to 7-9... and I didn't add extra light... my DH laughs at me for "cooking" for my birds, wants to know if I'll be knitting little hats for them next, but he was out there with me to put up the tarps on the run. He has been very surprised to find out how much personality they have, and though he won't admit it, is enjoying them almost as much as me.

(emphasis, mine).

Well, we had our roo in for his `soak' (bumblefoot), a few years back, and Cass eyeballed him, picked up one of our GD's baby socks and, I'm sure, mortified the poor guy with her improvisational `comb couture'. Besides being clawed off with extreme prejudice (even if duct taped in place) I suspect it would have only made a difference if he had been out in a high wind at ten below.

Make sure any heat source is out of the range of the chooks and secured with wood screws/multiple heavy duty zip-ties to a beam. A ceramic heat emitter won't mess with their schedules (light from heat lamp will have them up and around in the middle of the night and will probably throw off the egg laying as well).

We use a heated dog water bowl in the coop. We now keep 2/3rd's of it covered. Opened up the coop one morning and found the roo using it as a hot tub (he objected vociferously to being kicked out of the pool and being dryed off).​

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

We get lots of cold fog where we are. I have been running 100 watt bulbs when it goes under 30 degrees in all the coops. That wet cold is really terrible because it ROLLS into the coop, and the poor defenseless chickens freeze.

My coops are up on a hill to make matters worse. We get wind there too.

 

[Crabella]

Cannot find a ceramic heat emmitter locally, so will be driving 60 miles tomorrow to see if I can find one there. Will also be looking for a thermo-cube. I really did not want to add heat, but do not want any more frost bite and with the amount of fog we have been having lately, I just know it is going to happen again. Most years we have the fog in the fall and spring, if we have it, and by now it is over with. Of all the things to worry about, I did not think humidity was going to be one of them, it's not like I live in the Puget Sound area or near water... I usually lose a few shrubs each year to lack of moisture, not excess.

If we get a warm(er), not snowing/raining day, I'll be out there revamping the roost system, see if I can come up with something that he can get his hefty-hiney up onto, that doesn't interfere with their floor space ... maybe if he would roost with the others he would be less likely to get frostbite.