Frostbite - not sure when it occurred

[DonyaQuick]

I just found what I think is early signs of frostbite on two of my girls. The worse looking one is pictured. Their combs were completely red and fine up to about 3pm and then must have changed color when I was out for an hour. It was much colder last night though than today. Is this damage from 18 or so hours ago manifesting only just now or is it more likely they got their combs wet somehow during the day?

The damaged area is also warm like the rest. Don't know if that means anything.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Just realized I didn't attach the right pic. Trying again. That one black tip is a scab from a few days ago where she got nipped. It's just the white/grayish area that is new today.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Sorry to spam my own thread with more posts; will have to put the two chickens to bed in the coop soon so any fast responses appreciated. I read not to out Vaseline or anything on once damage has occurred. Anything else I can do quickly?

I have another girl with a big comb that's totally fine...puzzling.

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Found the edit button on my phone finally. I may have just discovered how the frostbite happened. Pictured chicken has little to no depth perception. I have both indoors, fed some warm mash, and then offered water. She dunked her whole head. All in, multiple times, kind of alternating with missing the water entirely since she doesn't know how close her beak is. Then the other one did the same since she was sure there was something good down there. I have been giving them an open top rubber tub of water outside...ugh.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Happened again today and still confused as to exactly how it's happening unless it's head dunking which is starting to seem unlikely. All were fine out of the coop in the morning up through noon, but I found white bits on 4 combs out of 6 around 2pm. I don't understand why only I start to see discoloration during the warmer part of the day.

Temperatures the last two days have been 10-20F at night and 20-34F day; they've been through that many days before with no issues. Single digits and below zero are forecast soon though so I'm not sure if I need to immediately try to fix something.

The same two from yesterday had the same discoloration come back this afternoon. The two new ones colored back up within 15min of being indoors. The two from yesterday improved again indoors but not all the way back to full red everywhere. My remaining two are still 100% fine with nice red combs and one of those has a pretty good sized comb so it's not just a matter of the biggest combs getting frostbite.

This morning it was somehow 20F and raining instead of snowing. I put boards up at dawn as a wind break so the chickens could still come out and I think it worked to keep rain out too. I stayed dry when I stood inside despite the gap at the top. There's 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice on blanketing everything outside now but the covered run stayed dry as far as I could tell. I didn't let them out into the run extension today so they were only in the pictured area.

 

[esme13]

It looks like the chill got to it, but it doesn’t look to bad. it should be fine, I’ve had my girls combs change colors due to the cold, but it tends to go back to normal. I would keep an eye for any blackening of the comb or bleeding .

 

[DonyaQuick]

Got some more pale banding on the same two today. Roughly 2:30pm so I guess that's just the time of day for it for whatever reason. I think I could have left them outside since it was not as dramatic a color change as before and it'll be time to go in the coop soon where they're clearly fine, but I brought them in for a bit anyway to get their red back.

I would keep an eye for any blackening of the comb or bleeding .

Will do. None so far thankfully, but tomorrow will be the coldest day they've seen so far so will be extra watchful for any darker colors showing up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Frostbite on combs is fairly common with temps close to zero. I would not do anything to it, or bring them inside. They need to stay out in the their coop to be able to tolerate the cold each day. If they come inside and get used to warmer temps, then when they go back out, it can be hard to tolerate. Many use bales of straw as wind breaks in runs. Winter weather can be hard on chickens. I have found that having a large enough coop for the birds to remain inside on snowy, extremely cold, or rainy days can be great. We don’t get but a few weeks of weather each year near zero. But you are much farther north.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Unfortunately I've confirmed that my chickens are indeed dunking their combs in the water bowl. That'll be why I was seeing the issues mid-afternoon, since it's happening in the run during the day, not in the coop at night. I use an open top black rubber tub for water when it's below freezing so I can be rough with it in the morning to get the ice out. That leaves little sticky-out bits of ice around the sides usually, and what they are doing is bending their necks around to try to eat those pieces - and dipping the tops of their comb in the water in the process. The areas getting dunked match exactly with where I've been seeing the discoloration. I'm now being more aggressive about knocking ice out of the water bowl and/or trying to melt it out with hot water it before it goes back in the coop. My hope is that if I remove the temptation then they will keep their combs dry.

One of the frostbite girls has started to get some blackening on the very tips because it took me a while to figure this out and I'm guessing she dunked quite a few times when I wasn't watching on very windy days. Other than continuing to de-ice the bowls better and disinfecting any areas that crack/peel, I'm not sure what else I can do. I hope those two are able to learn eventually. My other girls are fine.

 

[vantain]

They will be alright. It's best to just leave it alone. Here is a picture of one of mine, who got this her first Minnesota winter, in January (2019). It was pretty bad, but the second picture is how she looked a few months later. The points just round off, and the next two winters she had no issues with frostbite anymore. Those larger combs almost always get frostbite when the temperatures get down in the single digits for days, and even well below zero.

Looks like you were a little warmer when this happened, but any moisture can play a part in it.

I think there may be cases too when they tuck their heads in at night under their feathers. I think they can create a condition where their exhalation can also create moisture on their combs. I see many of mine with their large combs still sticking out from under their feathers.

So far this year, I have 5 hens where this is their second winter, and so far only one has mild frostbite. But, she is a RIR with a very large comb and wattles, and tends to dunk her wattles in the waterer when drinking. So this isn't very surprising. The rest of them are doing great so far. But we are currently sitting at 2F, and tonights low is supposed to be -15F, and it's going to be like this for the next week or so, so now is usually when this happens, if it happens.

 

[esme13]

With the nippy cold my rooster and cockerel were the ones who took some frost bite to their combs. Hoping it resolves later on

For water , I use a thermal dog water bowl. I found it at tractor supply and it works very well! P.s I do not remember which size we own, as they have many different sizes.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/farm-innovators-round-heated-pet-bowl-6-qt?cm_vc=-10005