Frostbite!

[Chickie-chan]

This is my first winter with chickens and from reading previous posts I kind of get the causes and how to treat it but I still have a few questions. I learned that the main cause of frostbite is not proper ventilation and I'm pretty sure that is my problem. The roof to our coop is not completely connected to the walls so that is a little part of the ventilation but we don't have any windows and I think that is my problem. So, until I fix that next spring does anyone know what I can do to help prevent it? I have been putting Neosporin on, maybe twice a day, but it keeps getting worst. It is for my leghorn hen. Thank you!

 

[NYRIR]

I too had a rooster get frostbite two winters ago...his looked really bad....he ended up losing his points and now has a "mohawk" comb! The dead part fell off on it's own, and he is fine now....

I would make sure you get that ventilation in first thing in the spring....is there no way to make a window now? Maybe just cover the hole with hardware cloth? I have 2 small adjacent ventilation windows near the top of my coop and also have holes (covered in hardware cloth) along each of my roof trusses in the coop so there is complete cross-ventilation, I do not keep water in the coop so they cannot spill it in there....and he STILL got it. Sometimes those large combed chickens just get frostbitten.
Another option is to add a little heat through a regular light bulb maybe? Depends on how large your coop is and if you could place it in a safe place.

 

[Lupa Duende]

hello
do you have access to petroleum jelly (Vaseline?) or lanolin (for sore mums breast-feeding)? if so, bung some on and it should help prevent frost-bite in the future.
you are right that humidity was probably a major contributor but in the absence of other remedies petroleum jelly can help prevent it and keeps the other chooks from pecking at any distressed bits

 

[Chickie-chan]

Getting chickens was kind of on the spur of the moment and we didn't design the coop to hold windows but I do have an idea. I was thinking, like you said, of cutting out a window and cover it on the inside with chickenwire or some other wire.

 

[Chickie-chan]

Ok, I'll try using vaselin instead and see if that is better.
Does anyone know if putting more straw in the coop will help? Or will it just retain more moisture?
Also, today we got a fresh layer of snow and I have the run door closed but it won't let the coop ventilate with the little we have. Should I open it?

 

[Lupa Duende]

i would open the door and let them have a wander outside if they want.
this have a twofold benefit of venting the coop in addition to keeping them happier.

the snow is still coming down here (the good meterologists predict over forty cm) but i managed to shovel out a path and everyone had a wander for the past three hours. it keeps them from getting snarky with one another plus the goats all urinated at least one outside. (my chooks share with ducks, pony, goats, et cetera.)
humidity will always happen even if you just have chickens in there; this is owing to having fresh water, which evaporates into the dry winter air and the chooks' exhalations..., as you know when we expire we release warm air (the warmth is due to the water mostly).

as the mammals were unimpressed with the snow, I have left the pop door open to permit the birds out. i can only see one duck outside right now but my snow blower might have unsettled them with its coughing black smoke.

let me know how you fare; frostbite is the most difficult thing that i have had to deal with recently with my last rescue. wallace, our newest bantam rooster, was found in downtown montreal. when i picked him up from the shelter he had black spots from frostbite on his comb. he is going better now but my guess is that he had been dumped while it was snowing and snowmelt damaged his comb.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with the overhead ventilation. Humidity causes frostbite, not just the cold weather. I bought a thermometer at Walmart that has a humidity level on it about for about $9. If the outside humidity is high, you can't do anything about that, but any wet areas in your coop you can try to dry up.

 

[NYRIR]

I would recommend hardware cloth versus chicken wire...chicken wire is NOT predator proof...here are some pics of what we did for ventilation..there is a small window on each opposite end up high...




In the winter, the big windows are covered by plexi glass....




Here are the front windows....also covered by plexi glass in the winter...




Here are the roof trusses...see how in between each was covered by hardware cloth? It was a pain but NOTHING gets in my coop!This is done on both ends so there is cross ventilation...




Hope this helps!

 

[Chickie-chan]

I put some Vaseline on her this morning and I'll put some more before she goes to bed tonight. I hope it helps! I also did opened the door while I was out there figuring that cold was better than getting more frostbite. Thanks NYRIR for the pictures, I was thinking about doing something like that when it gets warmer and now I have an example! (It's actuallty better than what I was thinking)I'll have to show my dad. And now I have a question, for the windows do you have the wood you cut out on the outside so you can shut it or do you have it open all the time? Other than the plexi glass.

 

[NYRIR]

Np....no, I have plexi glass with weatherstripping along the edges so they can get light asap in the morning....we have roosts in front of all the windows and that is where everyone wants to be....lol...here is what it looks like in summer...and they sleep right in front of the windows...




Sorry the pic is so far away...couldn't find better ones...but we built overhangs for each window so the rain would not come in...