Hen with FROZEN feet!

[EastinChickens]

Well, this case is a couple days old, but I still need some advice.

When I went out to my coop a couple of days ago, I spotted one of my hens huddled up in the corner. When I picked her up, she was nearly weightless, like the other hens have been bullying her away from the food. Her crop was completely flat, even caved in a little. Then, taking a look at her feet, they were litlerally FROZEN! Like, I touched them and they were stiff as rocks.
I took the poor little girl inside and set her feet in room temperature water until I could bend them and they were starting to pink up a little bit. She still couldn't move her toes, but they weren't frozen anymore, and I got some blood flowing back in them. I put her in my basement with some food and water, then left her alone.
The next day when I checked on her, she was back to her normal self- eating, drinking, pooping, acting curious, etc. but she hadn't gained much despite all of the eating she had done, and there were now HUGE blisters all over her feet.

This was her first winter, I hatched her in August 2010.

Any help as to what I should do? She is acting perfectly normal, I'm just worried about those blisters

 

[tammye]

sounds like the cold did some damage, i would keep her in until those feet heal up. Then you have to find out how she got so frostbitten in the coop. Is it drafty, open, do you have a thick bedding layer on the floor, what does their roost look like, answer thses questions before she goes back to the coop to prevent another issue like this one. Good luck

 

[EastinChickens]

Their coop is a 10x10 shed that is raised off the ground. There is about a foot of hay for bedding. It is not too drafty in there, and there is a read heat lamp along with a regular light in there. Their roost is a 2x4 running all along one wall, but some prefer to sleep on the bench. The hen in question usually slept under the bench on the floor.

I think her feet had frozen so easily because of her being so thin, but I am not sure...

 

[tammye]

you can put vaseline on her feet to help prevent frostbite also. I guess you need to figure out why she is not eating too. Is she lowest in pecking order? is food available all the time? have you spent time in the coop observing their interactions, do the others let her eat?you can learn a lot by watching them for a while, I know I have. I thought I had a feather plucker, but after watching them one day I found I have 4 feather pickers and one bully(this I did not know).

 

[EastinChickens]

She is most definately the lowest in pecking order. They have food available at all times, but there is always a chicken guarding it. When she tries to eat, they will usually give a little peck, but she won't mind them and will continue eating. As soon as I brought her inside, she was eating, so i defianately think it was a bullying issue.