Huge Jersery Giant with frostbite on wattles, very swollen can't eat.....help please, he is my baby

wldangl

Hatching
8 Years
Jan 23, 2012
2
0
7
I have a huge rooster that drank water on a freezing cold night and then didn't get under a heat lamp. His wattles froze where the water was and now they are REALLY swollen and he can't eat. I am force feeding him but I worry he is not getting enough. I have to work during the day and he can't eat and drink on his own until the swellng goes down. It has been three days and they are still pretty bad. Is there anything that can help the swelling go down? I think he would eat once the wattles swelling goes down but I am afraid he will starve before then. They are very heavy and he has a hard time keeping his head up. Please help

Thanks

Maureen
 
Oh my, his wattle frost bite sounds even worse than my rooster had last year for the same reason. Poor guy. Is he in a warmer spot like inside or in the garage where he won't have to eat as much to keep himself warm? When you feed him you can add some more nutrient rich foods like scrambled eggs.

You could try giving him a bit of aspirin wrapped in a bit of soft bread. Aspirin is an anti inflammatory and may reduce swelling some.

I copied this about dosage from else where on the forum: Aspirin - for pain relief. Dosage is approximately 25 mg per pound of chicken's body weight each day (A standard baby Aspirin is 80 mg, and a standard adult Aspirin pill is 325 mg). This information is from the Poultry Podiatrywebsite. Warning: aspirin thins the blood and should not be used if internal bleeding is suspected or in cases where a wound will not stop bleeding.
 
...I know some people use prep-H to shrink tissue for prolapse...dunno that I would try it on his wattles though...maybe too strong...hopefully someone who knows what to do will come along soon!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice, He has been livng in my masterbath for over a week. Wattles are getting better but still won't eat much because the they are still a bit big. When he puts his head down to eat, he loses sight of the food. I have to hold up by hand in front of his face so he can eat. He cant seem to open his mouth too far and I am worried about that. He doesn't want to walk around much. Plus he has those annoying little bugs on him from sitting idle. I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for the advice. i will keep hand feedng him as long as it takes!!!!
 
"Annoying little bugs" I would imagine are lice and/or mites, and may be causing him to feel sick even more than the frostbite problem. Dust with Sevin.
 

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