Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[aart]

So Winter is here.. Only worries I have are my Red's combs, the tips are black on one of them. My Brahmas seem ok with the cold weather so far, and my one Dom. hen as well. Thought I had enough Ventilation in the coop, but I am now worried. Any suggestions?

I shared my experience with frostbite a few pages back.....https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/697050/michigan-thread-all-are-welcome/34980#post_16265188

 

[TreeTree411]

Really not a good idea to bring rooster inside, unless you're going keep him in for the rest of the winter...can you post a pic of the 'frostbite'?
Slight frostbite, grayish coloring, is not really a concern...even when it turns black there's not much you can do and if it's not infected, it's best to stay hands off.
Messing with compromised skin can make it worse and introduce infection.

Even this healed up all on it's own with absolutely no intervention.
Swelling lasted a couple days.

One month later...eventually the black part of the wattle was lost, but was never infected.



This is what I use for water, worked great last winter once I got a good heater.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/aarts-heated-waterer-with-horizontal-nipples

Yeah, the top of the comb looks like my guys, their wattles are good though. I am using a enclosed water system with a heater coil to keep the nipples unfrozen. I heard about Vaseline on the combs? My daughter put socks of wool on their feet too, which they peck off of-course in seconds, they love dressing up their chickens. I do live in the Gogomain swamp in the U.P. though, so humid here.

 

[aart]

Read the posts following that one too....best to leave it alone IMO.

 

[TreeTree411]

Read the posts following that one too....best to leave it alone IMO.

I saw those too, as of now, I am leaving them alone.

 

[snowflake]

Oh trust me. Lol a bigger one is in the plan. My girlfriend and her 2 daughters live in town so we won't have many. I have a house in the country that would be perfect for a bigger coop. This is just to get us started

go to the breed sight even among bantams there is a huge selection, colors ect. have fun.

 

[wannahomestead]

Yeah, the top of the comb looks like my guys, their wattles are good though. I am using a enclosed water system with a heater coil to keep the nipples unfrozen. I heard about Vaseline on the combs? My daughter put socks of wool on their feet too, which they peck off of-course in seconds, they love dressing up their chickens. I do live in the Gogomain swamp in the U.P. though, so humid here.

Can you show me your water setup? I was using a 5 gal bucket but the poultry nipples are frozen. Then I was using a kiddie pool that my ducks used to swim in, and that worked for a while but it's finally freezing up. I bought a de-icer for the kiddie pool, but that requires an extension cord and the directions for the heater are pretty serious about don't use extension cords, so I'm not sure if I'm willing to play that yet. Lately I've just been running them water a couple times a day.

Anyone have any experience with the de-icers?

I'm considering a bigger coop next spring, and I may need to break down and run electrical to it

 

[wannahomestead]

@TreeTree411 My rooster's comb had a touch of what looked like frost bite starting on the tips. Checking him out recently though I'm not seeing much of anything odd. Hopefully yours works out the same

 

[TreeTree411]

Can you show me your water setup? I was using a 5 gal bucket but the poultry nipples are frozen. Then I was using a kiddie pool that my ducks used to swim in, and that worked for a while but it's finally freezing up. I bought a de-icer for the kiddie pool, but that requires an extension cord and the directions for the heater are pretty serious about don't use extension cords, so I'm not sure if I'm willing to play that yet. Lately I've just been running them water a couple times a day.

Anyone have any experience with the de-icers?

I'm considering a bigger coop next spring, and I may need to break down and run electrical to it

Sure! I will take a picture tomorrow.

 

[wannahomestead]

Sure! I will take a picture tomorrow.

Thx a bunch

 

[Opa]

One poultry practice that has fallen out of favor is the dubbing of birds, particularly, roosters. This was a technique, prominent with Old English Game Birds, where the comb and wattles were partially removed. In fact special scissors are sold solely for the purpose of trimming bird combs.

Any time the tips of a birds comb and or wattles turn black it indicates that those areas have been frostbitten. High humidity in the coop is usually the reason for comb and wattles being frost bitten. If you are using a pan wide enough that the birds wattles can become wet when drinking, that can also be the culprit. This is one reason that the metal watering cans sitting on a heater are the best choice for winter watering of birds. Its design is such that rarely do the wattles touch water as the bird drinks.

Frost bitten wattles and combs are so prevalent in Michigan that rather than calling it frostbite, which makes you feel that you haven't taken proper care of your birds, I've decided to call it "winter dubbing".