I think my Rooster has frost bite!!

[cher2324]

Winter with chickens! The shovelIng, the water! Crazy right?! But so worth it! Have you tried Vaseline? Good luck!

 

[drhannah]

My rooster is finally figuring out (I think) that the heat lamp is to keep him from getting frostbite. It was 1 F last night here in Michigan. That is the only thing I know to do to help them make it through the cold spells. It hangs from a chain from the ceiling and can not fall down so it is safe.

I think we're going to put a heat bulb into our lamp (it's just a red light right now for when they go to bed) for the next few days to help keep it warmer. With real lows around -20 I'm worried it will get too cold in the coop for them. Do you leave the lamp on all night? Or have it come on in spells to warm up then go off?

 

[drhannah]

Winter with chickens! The shovelIng, the water! Crazy right?! But so worth it! Have you tried Vaseline? Good luck!

Truly crazy! But worth it I ordered some Green Goo and will try that when it arrives. Shoveling is right! Our girls would not walk in the snow!

 

[Isaac 0]

If it is frost bite than it should heal by itself. Just as ling as it doesnt get infected

Once frostbite develops there is no proper way of it healing itself - the tissue is necrotic and no longer alive, in the spring the black part will eventually fall off.

Truly crazy! But worth it I ordered some Green Goo and will try that when it arrives. Shoveling is right! Our girls would not walk in the snow!

Frostbite is generally best left alone, when applying oils/ointments to the comb you risk it freezing to the tissue which would exacerbate the problem.

 

[vantain]

One of my girls (I have 5 barred rocks) has a really pale grey area on her comb that I'm worried is frostbite. Sorry the pic is a bit blurry, they never sit still! She had hurt this comb over the summer and I don't know if the floppy part doesn't tuck in well at night or what. We're in Wisconsin where it's highs of 0-5F in the day and lows around -10F or lower overnight. The coop has never been colder than 2F (we insulated) and the humidity in the coop and the air is very low. I really don't want to separate her and worry that bringing her into the house is too warm. It may be -20F real temp with real feel of -40F this weekend and I'm considering bringing all 5 into the garage where it's closer to 10-20F. Has anyone had any luck with treating frost bite? I don't want to be an over anxious mom (it's their first winter ever), but I also don't want her comb to get worse. View attachment 2524888

Best to just leave it alone. I experienced this two winters ago, when it got down to -35F, and all mine had some level of frostbite on their combs. The affected parts eventually fell off on their own, and their combs healed. They lost their points, but the upside of this is that the next winter, they didn't have any frostbite. Don't use vaseline..I think it just makes it freeze more. Leave it alone, and just monitor it.

Here was what one of mine looked like when she had frostbite:

And here is what it looks like after they heal:

 

[drhannah]

Best to just leave it alone. I experienced this two winters ago, when it got down to -35F, and all mine had some level of frostbite on their combs. The affected parts eventually fell off on their own, and their combs healed. They lost their points, but the upside of this is that the next winter, they didn't have any frostbite. Don't use vaseline..I think it just makes it freeze more. Leave it alone, and just monitor it.

Here was what one of mine looked like when she had frostbite:
View attachment 2525988

And here is what it looks like after they heal:
View attachment 2525989

Thanks for this, this makes me feel a lot better. We have been hesitant to do anything and it's not like she'd want us putting anything on it, either. Thanks! I hope she heals up as well as your girls.

 

[vantain]

Thanks for this, this makes me feel a lot better. We have been hesitant to do anything and it's not like she'd want us putting anything on it, either. Thanks! I hope she heals up as well as your girls.

This year, so far, most of mine are doing ok. I have six new pullets right now, and when I checked them this morning (-12), they were still looking ok. One of my RIRs has a large comb, and maybe one tip was looking a little affected. We are not out of the extreme cold yet, as it is getting colder into the weekend, before we start to climb out of this polar vortex. My 10 month old cockerel has a HUGE comb, and I figured he was in for a new look this spring. He definitely has a few of his larger points showing signs of frostbite...poor guy..it was bound to happen in these below zero temperatures.

 

[drhannah]

This year, so far, most of mine are doing ok. I have six new pullets right now, and when I checked them this morning (-12), they were still looking ok. One of my RIRs has a large comb, and maybe one tip was looking a little affected. We are not out of the extreme cold yet, as it is getting colder into the weekend, before we start to climb out of this polar vortex. My 10 month old cockerel has a HUGE comb, and I figured he was in for a new look this spring. He definitely has a few of his larger points showing signs of frostbite...poor guy..it was bound to happen in these below zero temperatures.

I'm glad yours are doing ok. Of our 5, Violet is the only one with issues. She hurt that comb over the summer and it has a real floppy part which is where the frostbite is. I'm guessing the floppy part doesn't get tucked in as well. Other girls seem ok. Yeah, I'm anxious for next week when the temps start to go up to 20's again. These low temps are brutal!

 

[Unsworth]

I think we're going to put a heat bulb into our lamp (it's just a red light right now for when they go to bed) for the next few days to help keep it warmer. With real lows around -20 I'm worried it will get too cold in the coop for them. Do you leave the lamp on all night? Or have it come on in spells to warm up then go off?

I leave in on all night and even during the day if it is really cold. They don't want to come out of their chicken house much, especially if it is snowy and windy.

 

[webmistress32]

Heat lamps in chicken coops make for awesome bbq. Please don't. Get a cozy coop panel heater, it's way safer.