Help with frostbite!

[Eggcessive]

My Leghorn rooster, Foghorn has terrible frostbite on his wattles and his comb. I just read about putting neo or vasaline on him which I'll do in the morning. I don't understand why he wouldn't go inside his house, he's been sleeping on top of it. Tonight I put him inside and blocked the door so he couldn't get out till morning. I also found one of my hens dead, I'm assuming she froze to death. Again i don't know why she wasn't inside her house last nite. I feel terrible about my chickys being in the unusually cold air but they have 4 houses of various sizes to get inside of. Each one had plenty of hay inside and there's plenty of room. I have 2 roosters and now 6 hens.

Welcome to BYC. Sorry about the loss of your hen and your rooster's frostbite. The best way to get chickens to go in at night is to look them inside the coop you want them in for up to a week 24/7. That way they will know where home is, and always lock them up at night when they go in to roost. Maybe you have too many choices, and they don't know which to use? Here are 2 good links about frostbite:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/12/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes.html
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-treat-chickens-suffering-frostbite-5294027.html?cat=53

 

[Burgess]

I hate to give you advice, because I live further south than you, and I am pretty new to taking care of chickens. I have had livestock and such though. Don’t know if it is over there, but it is well below freezing here tonight.

It was my impression that chickens stayed warm because they all roosted together. I think I have heard that each chicken gives off about 10W of heat, so ten would be the same as a 100w bulb (roughly). In addition, I know that moisture can cause them, like us, to become cold, and even catch respiratory illness. Finally, the drafts are hard on them.

So, against what I said, I will give you a bit of free advice...but it is only worth what you paid for it (free advice). Ok, when those two systems blew through Texas it got cold, wet, then icy, and was really windy (30+). I did the best I could, and like you I have warm weather birds (inc leghorns). As far as I know you are doing right with the rooster on treatment, so I just won’t comment on him. I did the best to block all drafts. I used old sheets, tarps etc. I put in more hay and chips, made sure that it was dry inside, and then I pulled out my secret weapon and put in a 100w light which I hung securely from the ceiling for fear of fire and such. You want no drafts, but not sealed like Tupperware, but perhaps a little heat since our birds have never had to do this.

Mine are good and well behaved, and always go to roost. They all went to the back of the coop and piled on each other. I followed them just after dark, secured the door, and turned on the light. My chickens go catatonic after sunset, so this is no big deal. Then I had decided based on camping that it is never as cold as it is at sunrise. So in getting them ready for morning I put a surprise in the coop. I placed their food and a waterer inside. Morning rolled around, and I didn’t let them out until the cold broke, and I wouldn’t have let them out till late this last time, but finally the wind stopped. Yeah they were mad at me, but warm.

Notice I said catatonic. If they are “bad birds” once they bed down, that is it. I can pick them up, treat them, and what ever I want. Even the ones that hate to be touched. I say do it. Go out pick them up, put them inside the coop, all in the same coop if they are used to it, leave it dark for a while, then go back tie on some sheets for the night to stop the drafts (do better tomorrow in the light), and put up a light if you have one (although most say you don’t need one). If they are like mine, they will just sit there and stare stupidly at you in like a dream state. Just get it done, methodically get them sealed up, and let them out when you think they should come out.

Good luck and let me know.
Burgess

 

[chickys mama]

Thanks Burgess for all the free advise. I worried about sealing them up tight, worried they weren't getting enough fresh air and would smother. I do have a couple of hens the silver laced w yndotte, that peck and pick on my Rhode island reds if they try to go inside the same house. They seam very territorial at night. They all get along fine during the day. And my silver wyndotte rooster is in a pen and house by himself cause he wants to fight the other roo and he's so rough on my girls, tearing up their backs and heads. I will do a little redecorating tomorrow and try keeping them pinned up in hopes they live and sleep together in harmony. Here's a pic of my boys, they grew up together and we're fine until they moved into new and larger coop.

 

[Burgess]

Yeah, I worried too. But we all got under the covers as kids and didn't smother. I think you want some of the fresh air, just not the breeze too. My coop is made for it to be 105 not 15. It has screen on all four sides, and screen on the eves. In the winter I use cardboard and a staple gun for most of it (like on the north side), but then I leave some, which I cover with old sheets or an old towel so it would breath. It is so dry here that cardboard stays nice for a season. But sealing them up tight was an just a local expression. If you use a light, please be careful and make sure they can’t knock it down where it might start a fire, or fly up and break it.

As for the bad bird syndrome, I think it is best to train them when they are young by holding them in the coop for a few days. My neighbor has birds that I help his girls catch sometime. They are getting better, but we would just go out and pick them up. They are like in a dream, and easy to work. I treat my chickens at night too for the same reason. If you can stand the cold, it would be fine to work a bit on those coops (be nice and don’t use the staple gun), but the birds are really soundly asleep.

I love my girls, and my heart goes out to you. I am sorry you lost your hen.

Burgess

 

[chickys mama]

Thanks for your condolences. She was my lil mama, she hatched 3 babies and wanted to sit again but it was wrong time of year. I will miss her. I know it's crazy but my chicks are my babies. I love them all and they each have different personalities. It breaks my heart to think she was that cold and just sat there out in the open. Tonight I put them all in their houses and blocked their doors but tomorrow I will fix something more permanent and much less drafty. I'm like you though, I built for hot summer's more than cold winters. But this year has been brutal. I will fix Foghorn up too, grease him up good in neo.

 

[CrazyDuckFarms]

Yes use petroleum jelly on the combs and wattles.

 

[CrazyDuckFarms]

Yes use petroleum jelly on the combs and wattles.

However it will do nothing if already infected.

 

[chickys mama]

If it is infected what should I do? I'll take some pics and post in just a little bit

 

[CrazyDuckFarms]

I meant affected. Im sorry! Well they can if bacteria gets in there just watch it - however it mostly just heals on its own- and its not pretty :/!

 

[chickenpooplady]

I went out to the coop this morning and found that my rooster has frostbite on his comb. It has been really cold here for the last few days but the chickens stay mostly inside of the coop. I just put fresh straw down and there is plenty of ventilation. It does not look too bad but I covered it with Vaseline anyway. I was touching it and he didn't seem to be in pain. My biggest fear is that the part of the comb that has frostbite on it will die and fall off. Will this happen? Here are some pictures. Thanks!

Update: So after I found that my rooster had frostbite on his comb, I started this thread and did some research. I am happy to let you all know that I was able to save his comb from turning black and falling off. The entire comb but the very tips are now back to a healthy red color! For those of you who are looking for a way to save their chicken's comb or wattles from falling off this is what I did.

-1st I brought him into the house and kept him in a dog kennel in the house until it got warmer (above freezing) outside.

- I held him in my lap and rubbed Vick's Vapor Rub on his comb. I read on a different thread that you could use Vick's so I gave it a try. When I put it on I held him and really rubbed the Vick's on his comb so that the cells would warm up. I did this multiple times a day.

- Every now and then instead of putting Vick's Vapor Rub on his comb I would put Aloe on it to try to get it to heal.

I read that once the frostbitten part turns black there is nothing you can do to save it from falling off so when half of the frostbitten part on his comb turned purplish black I thought that I had saved all that I could. Once it got warm enough I put a bunch of Vaseline on his comb and put him back outside, happy that I had saved half of his comb from falling off. However, as the days went by the purplish black part went away and was replaced by a brown scab. Soon his entire comb but the very tips turned back to red and were fine.

Every night I still climb into the coop and put Vaseline of his comb and wattles but on Tuesday morning, I found frostbite on his wattles. They were already purple and extremely swollen. I brought him inside again and I have been treating him the same way that I did before. The swelling has gone down and they are starting to look better. I have full confidence that they will not fall off.

So what I learned for this whole experience:

- Even though they will freeze faster and have to be filled up sooner, use waterers that the chickens cannot dip their comb or wattles in.

- Make sure there is plenty of ventilation.

- Keep the coop as dry as possible by putting down fresh straw or shavings often.

- Coat combs and wattles with Vaseline if you know that it is going to be very cold that night.

- Take the waterer out of the coop every night so that it doesn't create any moisture.

- Once combs or wattles are frostbitten use Vick's Vapor Rub, Aloe and rub them often to get the warmth back into them.

I can't guaranty that this will work for everyone but it helped me. Thanks for all the help and good luck to those who have chickens with frostbitten combs or wattles.