Frostbite thoughts

[henaynei]

It’s been -3 here with windchill into negative double digits
All my roosters have mild to moderate frost bite on combs.
It was so cold several days the hens would not come out of the coop and I made a bad mistake.
I put a pan of food (not a mistake) and of water (THAT was the mistake) in the coop.
Rooster drug their wattles in it and got frostbite there too.
Nothing I can do about it now.
Have heated waterer on the way. Maybe that will entice the hens out on the worst days.

 

[Pawpaw&Mawmaw]

I have been driving myself nuts researching frostbite..i am a first time chicken owner and am doing my very best to get my 3 girls through this horrid winter. I have a nice big covered pen that I put vinyl panels up to protect them from the horrific winds we are having. Unfortunately I have a small short coop with an A frame roof so there isnt a lot of space for cutting any more ventilation spaces than i already have. I would have to go lower and the wind would be hitting the girls in the head. All three have tips of their large combs frostbitten. In extreme temps is it not likely that no matter what you put on them, bag balm,vaseline etc they will be affected to some degree?? I put vaseline on my cheeks and nose and went outside today to test it. My cheeks are beet red and hurt. I read this article and although it is in relation to humans I think it would apply to anything with exposed skin.."Spreading petroleum jelly or other emollients onto the skin does not lower the risk of frostbite;[111,175] indeed the use of these products may increase the relative risk of frostbite on the head." Any thoughts? Comments? I am sick to death that they are suffering even if it's minor frostbite but am at a loss of what to do.

Moister causes most of the frost bite, hence ventilation, but poop causes moister. Poop adds heat but at what cost? We keep a heat lamp in the coop and will use heated rocks if for some reason we loose our electric. Last year I was working 6 days a week so my husband was taking care of the coop most of the time. He does not clean the coop as well as I do and the ladies seemed to have a lot of frost bit last year. Not the case this year. I clean (pick-up) the coop everyday. I don't think most people don't want to spend that much time on the coop, but I can defiantly tell a huge difference in the amount of frost bite on the combs. Almost none and it's been pretty cold here! I'm proud to say MUCH MUCH better this year!! Is the frost bite more of a big deal to us then to them, I'm not sure.......But I feel better!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

All the ventilation in the world will not make up for horribly low temperatures. Chickens are flesh and bone and blood. Flesh and blood are subject to the same forces of nature like a pond of water is in cold weather. If it cold enough, exposed flesh will definitely freeze as well as a pond of water.

 

[Folly's place]

Chanteclers! Yes! And EEs, and Wyandottes, anyone with a small comb and little wattles. Hens do pretty well even with small single combs, but the cock birds really have problems with frostbite.
Mary

 

[Sylvester017]

Chanteclers! Yes! And EEs, and Wyandottes, anyone with a small comb and little wattles. Hens do pretty well even with small single combs, but the cock birds really have problems with frostbite.
Mary

The roo's are so pretty but the fact is they have bigger combs and wattles for us to worry about. Like you, I believe the Chantecler is probably the BEST snow bird to have to avoid frostbite and seem to be a good all-round general breed of chicken for meat or eggs from what I've researched, and don't seem aggressive -- too big a breed for our small breeds flock but I like Chanties. I like the Wyandottes for their beauty but too large for my under-5-lbs-flock and we found the EE's and APA Ameraucanas fairly sweet birds but not our best layers and way too skittish for us to make family pets out of them and it surprised us at how large they got with all that heavy underdown -- they didn't do well in our humid SoCalif climate. In snow country the EEs and Ameraucanas probably would thrive -- we discovered how much ours hated our climate and only layed eggs in cooler weather (only about 31/2 months out of the year):

 

[chickengeorgeto]

However, that experiment was somewhat flawed. The winter glove, wet would have provided no protection. the layer of vaseline over the latex glove would have provided more insulation value than the latex glove alone. I still say the real criteria would be vaseline over skin in comparison to dry skin, in a freezing below zero, wind free environment.

Actually the latex glove when coated in Vaseline would have provided no cold protection at all because as soon as the Vaseline hit the latex glove it would disintegrate.

 

[chonsey]

I have a box of disposable Nitrile gloves I got at the drug store and keep it handy for chickens with issues. The Honey Guy has all natural products with beeswax that works good that you can use instead of petroleum jelly. Helps in healing process, too. But when weather is extreme like the arctic blast and the duration is long.....I'm getting the heat lamp out. Now I have to look into getting a lock to keep them from unplugging it while I'm busy. I've seen them for outdoor Christmas lights to connect the strands and are waterproof - keeps the water from shorting them out. We're going into single digits at night and they unplugged it again!

 

[dunnmom]

Your issue is that you don't have cold hardy breeds.

Cold hardy breeds have small combs.
Frostbite on the tips of the comb is natural. It happens to everyone. It will turn black and fall off if it doesn't heal. It's only when it starts going beyond the tips that we worry.

My girls are Orpingtons, a cold-hardy breed. 3 out of 6 have huge combs, though. Hatchery birds. Luckily, their frostbite has been tips only. I've really just been leaving it alone to do it's thing because your thoughts were my thoughts on the matter. I only worried that it might be painful to them, as I have no idea how sensitive their combs are to pain. Thoughts?

 

[Apis mellifera]

My Chantecler rooster also has a small comb and wattles, he has no problem with the cold. When I was looking for a cold hardy breed I never thought this winter would be so cold (dumb luck). My first choice was partridge wyandottes (a great breed), but now I cant imagine having anything else. I love this breed. If you did the best you could to prevent frostbite, don't feel bad. This is a rough winter and chickens are tough. Most heal fast and bounce back pretty quick. Warmer days are coming

 

[Folly's place]

He's handsome! Mary