I'm not sure which is happening to three of my chickens, so I want to solve both problems at once.
Here's the situation behind this:
Due to a recurring problem of high humidity inside the isolated, non-heated coop (hydrometer shows 72-78% - the walls and windows are covered in frost), I suspect comb frostbite is starting to affect my hens. Three of them show crusty red and sometimes black spots near the tips of the combs (no swelling though). I do have some difficulty telling the right color of the crusty bits, as the hens don't like my looking at their combs and will turn their heads every which way to ward me off. The rooster (a beautiful Cream Crested Legbar), amazingly, has lived through several frost-threatening nights without any frostbite to his enormous comb or wattles.
Flock-wise, the dynamic of the group isn't at its best. I have two 'clans' inside my flock - two EE sisters of around 8 months old versus my six other chickens, all 6 and a half months old. My attempts to integrate them together at a young age have not completely worked - the sisters tolerate the others, but they also bully them. Their bossy attitudes has infected the younger hens, and I've seen some of them peck each other viciously several times on a daily basis. This seems to occur most often around food and at roosting time. Last week one of my hens was downright missing a comb spike - I'd freaked out thinking it was comb frostbite, but tiny blood splatters near the floor on a perch pillar make me think that another hen bit at her comb savagely when the wounded one refused to move out of her way, most probably because the immobile hen had been experiencing the laying of her first egg that very same day. (she'd done it on the floor instead of in the nestbox.)
So, knowing all of this, I'm not sure how to tackle one problem without encroaching into the other. Vaseline seems the prized choice against comb frostbite on BYC, even though opinions differ far and wide on the matter. Knowing my hens' tendency to peck each other, putting Vaseline on their combs means they could also ingest it. Is Vaseline safe to use in such cases, or can I use another, more natural product that would protect the combs from frostbite and keep my chickens from accidentally poisoning themselves?
(If Vaseline is the best/only option, then how thick must the layer of Vaseline be on the comb so it doesn't get frostbitten or look potentially edible to other chickens? And how many times a day/night must I re-apply it in such high humidity conditions, to keep the comb/wattles safe at all times?)
Behavior-wise, a protein deficiency might explain in part the tetchy temper of my flock. I've taken a look at the grower feed we have here in Quebec and noticed that crude proteins are around 1,10% below Purina levels, which stand at 18% for growing pullets (the current brand I own has 16,89%). I've read in another thread that it is better to keep the flock on grower feed at all times (with extra calcium in a separate bowl) rather than layer feed, as the extra calcium within the layer feed causes a bunch of problems to non-laying chickens in the long run. I want to try that here since I currently have only 1 laying hen (my wounded sweetheart) out of the flock, plus a rooster. However since the protein levels of my brand don't match Purina's brands, what food scraps/treats could I give my hens in the meantime to fill out that deficiency (and hopefully calm them down), until I find a better brand of grower feed?
Also, all my 7 hens are old enough to lay, even if most of them seem in no hurry to start. Could hormonal spikes in relation to the approaching point of lay be the cause behind the irritable tempers and thus, induce comb pecking? I'm asking this because the rooster is ironically the only one with a cool head right now, even though mounting his ladies is still his favorite pastime. Not even he is spared from the pecking; he's quickly learnt to dart away from the more aggressive hens (my two EEs) after making a move on them, so the feathers at the base of his tail are a bit, ah, out of order as a result.
For the high humidity problem: a lack of ventilation (landlady originally built it without one) and open-air water bucket are the principal causes behind it, I think. The unusually warm winter we've been having also complicates matters - we have melting temps instead of two digit temps. I've bought high humidity-absorbing sachets to try and make a dent in the hovering moisture, but my hydrometer says that battle is far from won. As soon as financially possible, the water bucket will be replaced by a closed-off, heated waterer with nipples, and if my wallet allows it in the future (and if landlady says yes) then I will get a few holes in the walls of the coop for ventilation. The only other place for high amounts of humidity in the coop is the poop board, and this one I do my best to clean daily. I also keep a close eye on the bedding to ensure it doesn't add to the humidity.
So, um, yeah. Lots of problems to solve, all threatening the single combs of my poor chickens. Vaseline and a higher protein diet are my main short-term answer to comb frostbite and comb pecking until I can solve both long-term, but did I miss anything else problem/solution-wise? What would you guys look for in my place, and how would you solve your problems? Thanks in advance for the answers!
Here's the situation behind this:
Due to a recurring problem of high humidity inside the isolated, non-heated coop (hydrometer shows 72-78% - the walls and windows are covered in frost), I suspect comb frostbite is starting to affect my hens. Three of them show crusty red and sometimes black spots near the tips of the combs (no swelling though). I do have some difficulty telling the right color of the crusty bits, as the hens don't like my looking at their combs and will turn their heads every which way to ward me off. The rooster (a beautiful Cream Crested Legbar), amazingly, has lived through several frost-threatening nights without any frostbite to his enormous comb or wattles.
Flock-wise, the dynamic of the group isn't at its best. I have two 'clans' inside my flock - two EE sisters of around 8 months old versus my six other chickens, all 6 and a half months old. My attempts to integrate them together at a young age have not completely worked - the sisters tolerate the others, but they also bully them. Their bossy attitudes has infected the younger hens, and I've seen some of them peck each other viciously several times on a daily basis. This seems to occur most often around food and at roosting time. Last week one of my hens was downright missing a comb spike - I'd freaked out thinking it was comb frostbite, but tiny blood splatters near the floor on a perch pillar make me think that another hen bit at her comb savagely when the wounded one refused to move out of her way, most probably because the immobile hen had been experiencing the laying of her first egg that very same day. (she'd done it on the floor instead of in the nestbox.)
So, knowing all of this, I'm not sure how to tackle one problem without encroaching into the other. Vaseline seems the prized choice against comb frostbite on BYC, even though opinions differ far and wide on the matter. Knowing my hens' tendency to peck each other, putting Vaseline on their combs means they could also ingest it. Is Vaseline safe to use in such cases, or can I use another, more natural product that would protect the combs from frostbite and keep my chickens from accidentally poisoning themselves?
(If Vaseline is the best/only option, then how thick must the layer of Vaseline be on the comb so it doesn't get frostbitten or look potentially edible to other chickens? And how many times a day/night must I re-apply it in such high humidity conditions, to keep the comb/wattles safe at all times?)
Behavior-wise, a protein deficiency might explain in part the tetchy temper of my flock. I've taken a look at the grower feed we have here in Quebec and noticed that crude proteins are around 1,10% below Purina levels, which stand at 18% for growing pullets (the current brand I own has 16,89%). I've read in another thread that it is better to keep the flock on grower feed at all times (with extra calcium in a separate bowl) rather than layer feed, as the extra calcium within the layer feed causes a bunch of problems to non-laying chickens in the long run. I want to try that here since I currently have only 1 laying hen (my wounded sweetheart) out of the flock, plus a rooster. However since the protein levels of my brand don't match Purina's brands, what food scraps/treats could I give my hens in the meantime to fill out that deficiency (and hopefully calm them down), until I find a better brand of grower feed?
Also, all my 7 hens are old enough to lay, even if most of them seem in no hurry to start. Could hormonal spikes in relation to the approaching point of lay be the cause behind the irritable tempers and thus, induce comb pecking? I'm asking this because the rooster is ironically the only one with a cool head right now, even though mounting his ladies is still his favorite pastime. Not even he is spared from the pecking; he's quickly learnt to dart away from the more aggressive hens (my two EEs) after making a move on them, so the feathers at the base of his tail are a bit, ah, out of order as a result.
For the high humidity problem: a lack of ventilation (landlady originally built it without one) and open-air water bucket are the principal causes behind it, I think. The unusually warm winter we've been having also complicates matters - we have melting temps instead of two digit temps. I've bought high humidity-absorbing sachets to try and make a dent in the hovering moisture, but my hydrometer says that battle is far from won. As soon as financially possible, the water bucket will be replaced by a closed-off, heated waterer with nipples, and if my wallet allows it in the future (and if landlady says yes) then I will get a few holes in the walls of the coop for ventilation. The only other place for high amounts of humidity in the coop is the poop board, and this one I do my best to clean daily. I also keep a close eye on the bedding to ensure it doesn't add to the humidity.
So, um, yeah. Lots of problems to solve, all threatening the single combs of my poor chickens. Vaseline and a higher protein diet are my main short-term answer to comb frostbite and comb pecking until I can solve both long-term, but did I miss anything else problem/solution-wise? What would you guys look for in my place, and how would you solve your problems? Thanks in advance for the answers!
