Hen lost most of her comb to frostbite

[Rainekitty]

We've had an exceptionally cold winter here in Northern Maryland, and most of my chickens experienced at least a touch of frostbite on their combs and wattles, but I have one red sex-link hen who lost almost all of her comb. She is the only chicken in my flock who does not regularly roost, and on one of the coldest nights of the year, she slept in the next box, probably the coldest area of the coop, which I think led to more severe frostbite than the others. The tissue turned black and I had hoped that there was something salvageable underneath. But now the dead tissue has sloughed off, and there is really nothing left of her comb. No beautiful pointy tips, no extra tissue, just a slightly raised line of red against her skull.

She is feeling well and is fine otherwise. What I want to know is what kinds of issues she might face due to the loss of her comb, especially during warm weather. Do I need to take extra precautions to make sure she can cool off during the hottest months of the year? I've read a lot about the immediate treatment of frostbite but I don't see much out there about the extended consequences. Thanks!

 

[MrsBrooke]

I imagine she will be okay. If she's healed and gotten past infection, I feel like the worst has passed.

In the meantime, there are lots of things you can do to keep your chickens happy and cool when the sun comes back out.

Five gallon buckets of ice water for them to snuggle, a mister hooked up to a hose, frozen water bottles for soccer, frozen watermelon (my girls go APE for this), pans of water for them to stand in...

The possibilities are endless!

MrsB