Frostbite!

[cowcreekgeek]

Just now I went to go see my chickens and the other two have frostbite! One of them is an orpington and the other is a barred rock. I don't know what to do! They look miserable. Should I at least bring them in the garage?

Yeah ...
take 'em into the garage, but ... how cold is it right now, where you are? I'm wondering if this could be fowlpox, or somethin' else ...

 

[Chickie-chan]

Right now it is 19degrees F and the high was 25 F.
Humidity is 81 percent.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Right now it is 19degrees F and the high was 25 F.
Humidity is 81 percent.

The temperature shouldn't be such an issue, but ...
that's mighty high for the humidity (literally drippin' wet )-;~

Just to be *sure* that you're dealing w/ frostbite? It's usually evenly distributed across the tips and down the comb uniformly. However, sometimes? folks blame frostbite for what is caused by fowlpox. SoOo ... see these images of fowlpox on google first:

www.google.com/search?q=fowlpox&hl=en&tbm=isch

Once you're sure it ain't fowlpox, then you might wanna see this:

http://poultrykeeper.com/external-problems/frostbite-or-frozen-comb

 

[Chickie-chan]

I looked at the first link and it isn't fowlpox.
The second link was really helpful for me in understanding how and why they get frostbite. I have some serious thinking to do about my coop come spring. Thank you for all your help! I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

 

[NYRIR]

Great...will be watching!! The humidity in the coop is awful....it does a lot of damage!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

I looked at the first link and it isn't fowlpox.
The second link was really helpful for me in understanding how and why they get frostbite. I have some serious thinking to do about my coop come spring. Thank you for all your help! I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

This may sound really silly, but ... why couldn't a small (preferably used) dehumidifier be used 'til then? It'd put minimal heat in (esp. if small/efficient enough) but could bring it down to acceptable levels of humidity (just an idea ~'-)

 

[Chickie-chan]

Thanks for your idea! It isn't silly and I might try it sometime but for now I might just see how this winter goes so I know what to change in the spring.
I checked the weather for this week and it's supposed to get warmer. Will that help with the humidity?

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Thanks for your idea! It isn't silly and I might try it sometime but for now I might just see how this winter goes so I know what to change in the spring.
I checked the weather for this week and it's supposed to get warmer. Will that help with the humidity?

I figure the only thing that's gonna knock down the humidity is improving the air flow ... even if it's warmer? It's still not gonna dry out w/o air.

 

[janinepeters]

Right now it is 19degrees F and the high was 25 F.
Humidity is 81 percent.

That humidity level sounds awfully high. How many chickens do you have, and how many square feet in their coop? What do you use for litter and what is your litter management like?

 

[Sweetly Silkies]

if they have large combs (not rose or the like), i heard of somebody cutting off the end of a sock and putting it on the comb.