i worried about my poor rooster suffering from frostbite!

[Bayrider16]

I have five roosters, and one (Japanese bantam) has frostbite really bad on his comb and wattle. His comb is nearly completely black, and the tips of his wattles are black due to water freezing on them when he drinks. (I still need to get a heated waterer for them)He looks veryy bad and Im soo worried for him. I've tried to put Vaseline on him, and I have been treating him with that for about two-three weeks now but it just seems to be getting worse! I tried to keep him inside for about five to ten min. When I can but nothing is working... I'm afraid that I might have to dub his comb and wattles. He's showing no sign of acting out of the usual yet, he's quite tuff... I'm also afraid for my Grand Champion Mille Fleur, because I don't want to have to dub him comb if his frostbite gets any worse cause I want to beable to show him again next year at fair. I will post pictures of my Japanese roo when I go to treat him tomorrow afternoon so you guys can see how bad it is. Thank you for taking the time to read this!!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A heated water fount won't help unless the roo keeps his comb submerged in the water 24/7. But the instant he pulls his comb out of the drinker the water begins vaporing fast and that means or leads to super cooling of his head gear and that brings on frostbite.

 

[Wyandottes7]

There's not much you can do about the frostbite he already has. Continue putting the vaseline on to help prevent frostbite. You can also put antibiotic ointment (without painkillers or "caine" ingredients) on the comb/wattles to help prevent infection. Rubbing VetRx on can help, too, by increasing the circulation.

It can be very difficult to prevent frostbite in large combed birds. I have some single combed bantams, and last winter they got some significant frostbite on their combs and some on their wattles. I tried everything; petroleum jelly, heat lamps, etc. Nothing worked. In the end, I just got a small space heater and put it in the coop. To minimize the chance of a fire, its in a hardware cloth and wood enclusure (about 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide--this way the chickens can't get to it, and wood shavings don't fall in), and has no fan. It keeps the coop above freezing (not a lot above freezing, but just enough), and I haven't had frostbite since.

 

[MrsBachbach]

You might look to a different type of watering system if wet wattles are the problem.

 

[Bayrider16]

Thank you a lot! But im curious about his comb... will it just peel and grow back or what? Like i said before I'm going to post some pictures. I just want to know what to expect or if its too late to help it. It looks like his blood circulation is cut off and the skin is just dead...

 

[BantamLover21]

Thank you a lot! But im curious about his comb... will it just peel and grow back or what? Like i said before I'm going to post some pictures. I just want to know what to expect or if its too late to help it. It looks like his blood circulation is cut off and the skin is just dead...

What happens will depend on the severeity of the frostbite. But the blackened parts of his comb are almost certainly dead; they will scab off in a few weeks to a few months. If you want, you could dub away the blackened tissue, or you could simply wait until it falls off naturally. The comb will not regrow after the frostbite.

 

[Amina]

To help prevent this from happening in the future, you should probably get a poultry nipple waterer so that they can drink without getting their wattles wet.

 

[centrarchid]

Also check bird's feet. How is his weight?

What are their roosting arrangements? How are the birds contained with respect to ventilation?

 

[Bayrider16]

Also check bird's feet. How is his weight?

What are their roosting arrangements? How are the birds contained with respect to ventilation?

His feet are just fine. Half of his comb has fallen off. He is eating well and is at a healthy weight. Were we had him before snow drifted in, so we moved him. He now roosts with a couple of our girls and i know that he doesn't tuck his head between his wing and body. I haven't been able to post pictures, I've been so busy... and i also know now that there's nothing i can really do. The weather is warming up a little bit now, it got to 60 degrees yesterday. But we are expecting some snow later on in the week.

 

[centrarchid]

His feet are just fine. Half of his comb has fallen off. He is eating well and is at a healthy weight. Were we had him before snow drifted in, so we moved him. He now roosts with a couple of our girls and i know that he doesn't tuck his head between his wing and body. I haven't been able to post pictures, I've been so busy... and i also know now that there's nothing i can really do. The weather is warming up a little bit now, it got to 60 degrees yesterday. But we are expecting some snow later on in the week.

Observing him roost with head tucked requires he be fully asleep.

Odds are you are past the worst in frostbite. If feet are good then all will be well.