Frostbite & Disheveled (Messy) Feathers

[Dutch780]

Hi all. Longtime lurker (learner) here, first time seeking advice/opinions.

We have recently come out of a deep freeze that saw sustained temps in the -30’s celcius (-30’s F for my American friends) lasting about 10 days. I’ve had little issue with frostbite in winters past but we added a couple new pullets to the flock last summer and one of them has been affected. A good portion of her comb and what looks like most/all of her waddle is discoloured. I haven't (and wasn’t planning to) treated the frosbite itself and she has remained outside with the other girls. We’re now in 0 to -10C temps.

What concerns me more than the FB is her dishelved appearance. Her feathers have got more and more messy (fuzzy) in appearance over the last week or so. I have not experienced this before and I assume it is related to the FB but as she may now be sick, Im not certain how to treat her.

I thought the messy feathers may have been related to a lack of dustbathing during the colds ap but all the girls took turns in a dust bath today and none of my 5 other hens are affected like this.

She’s an EE, 8 months old, and was laying like a champ until 4-5 days ago. Seems to be eating and drinking normally and she still runs out to greet me (scan me for treats!) when I call them.

Thoughts(?), please.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her frostbite should heal fine, and it’s not too bad. But it looks like she is either getting her feathers picked, or she has started molting. Have they been cooped up a lot due to the cold? Will she eat some scrambled egg or some warm mushy wet chicken feed?

 

[Dutch780]

Her frostbite should heal fine, and it’s not too bad. But it looks like she is either getting her feathers picked, or she has started molting. Have they been cooped up a lot due to the cold? Will she eat some scrambled egg or some warm mushy wet chicken feed?

She absolutely will eat scrambled eggs, mash, almost anything I present to her. They have all been on a higher protein (20%) grower feed with free issue oyster shells and grit since the older girls went through their molt in the fall.

Pecking is something I hadn’t considered. During the cold snap they were choosing to spend alot of time inside the coop, coming out for ration/water. We have seen the other pullet we brought home (at the same time as this black hen) pecking a bit. They are bff’s (or so I thought!) as the other new hen stays close to the black one. We’ll monitor more closely.

My son asked if she may be molting but in my experience the four older hens
1) did not molt until the fall of their second year and
2) none of them have ever had this full body fuzzy/frazzled appearance to their feathers during a molt.
But Easter Eggers are all a bit different, I suppose, and maybe this is how she molts. I’d be relieved if thats all it is but mildly concerned too as we have a lot of winter left here in Edmonton. Perhaps a bit of physical stress from the frostbite could trigger a molt(?).

Suspecting now pecking might explain the frazzled feathers. I appreciate the “cold eyes” opinion!

 

[Dutch780]

An update on this girl: the frostbite on her comb is looking better - less noticeable now. I’ll post a pick a little later to show the extent, if any, of dead tissue but there may not be any.

As for her fuzzy, disheveled appearance -it has improved somewhat. The feathers on her neck have regrown and she has been an otherwise healthy girl, same energy as she had before the change, and has started laying again. Eggcessive was right, I believe she was molting. Just a different time of year and a much different appearance than any of our other hens have shown us in the past. Lucky for her we’ve had a very mild winter to date.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update. Glad that she is doing well.