Frost Bite

[farmboydj]

what do you do if a rooster as a little frost bite on the tip of his comb

 

[nczookeeper]

I've read that you should get some vasoline, neosporin, bag balm - any of these and slather some on. It's supposed to work as a protectant before and to help heal it after.

Also read to watch them after signs of frostbite to make sure they are acting normally and not being picked on.

I'm probably being foolish, but started dabbing bag balm on those little combs on my girls this past week. . .I worry a lot because caring for chickens is new to me

 

[Kittymomma]

I'm not sure how to treat it after the fact, but you can put some vaseline on it when it's getting cold to prevent further damage. If you're having frostbite problems with the temps. that we get here in the pnw you probably need to re-think the ventelation in your coop. It's more of a humidity thing then a cold thing with the temps. that we get here.

I'll try to find the link to Pat's page, it should give you some ideas. I hope someone who's dealt with frostbite will chime in soon and let you know how to treat it.

ETA: Here's the link-- https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1642-VENTILATION

 

[farmboydj]

it is not that i have bad coop ventilation my darn roosters don't go in at night (evan thought there is a nice warm coop) they just sit on the sawhorses in the run i have tried to put them in but the next night they are back out there

 

[Kittymomma]

They can get set in thier ways. I'd take the sawhorses out, at least at night, for awhile. If there's nothing to roost on outside I bet they get the idea.

 

[tammyd57]

I used to have a couple of chickens that refused to go in at night. That really isn't much of a problem here, it rarely freezes. One night we had a freak cold front come in and temps stayed below freezing for about 10 hours. The two chickens that didn't go in that night sat outside in their usual spots and froze to death. They didn't know what else to do and I didn't realize it was going to be that cold or that the two wouldn't go in after it got that cold. I can see I'm going to have that same problem with three of my current chickens. They prefer to sleep on the top pipe of the carport/pen they live in. I can't make them go inside and close them up because their coop is open on one side.
If your chicken has slight frostbite on their comb, it should heal fine by itself. The spots will turn black and fall off. Try to keep the vaseline off the already damaged parts, so it will be dry and can heal faster that way.