Pale spots on wattles and comb.

Hennyfromdblock

Songster
Sep 15, 2021
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Hello everyone. Hope everyone is doing great! My lovely barred rock girl seems to have some white/pale spots on her comb and wattles. Well her and 2 others, a cinnamon queen and Bantam Black Australorp. I thought maybe something to do with the cold weather? They sleep in their coop but me and my Mexican knowledge, the wind hit them as they walked out and they need vaporu 😅😂. First 3 days of the week were nice and warm, a bit of wind, lower 80s. BUT this morning is so windy and chilly, In my area we’re at 53°. Last night wasn’t cold, just very windy. If you’re in Texas you know how crazy our weather gets. Anyway, their combs and faces are bright red as always, as I’m typing this all 3 are celebrating a new egg so they’re definitely laying. Eating and drinking just fine. It’s just those white/pale spots. Here’s some marked pictures, hopefully it’s nothing serious. She’s currently molting, not sure if that has something to do with it also. Thanks for reading 😊.


AC1C88D7-8EC5-45FE-AA0E-A056C3649ABD.jpeg

The black spot on her comb is mud. As you can see only those spots are pale.
851C4D39-44D0-4F21-BDB6-FE4559458DC7.jpeg
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Here's a test to see if it's frost bite, though unlikely it is. Take a dab of hand lotion and gently dab, do not rub, it on the white spots. If it makes them disappear, it's simply dry tissue. If the white is not diminished by the lotion, it could be frost damaged tissue.

But for frost bite to occur, you would need a wind chill factor of 32F.
 
Here's a test to see if it's frost bite, though unlikely it is. Take a dab of hand lotion and gently dab, do not rub, it on the white spots. If it makes them disappear, it's simply dry tissue. If the white is not diminished by the lotion, it could be frost damaged tissue.

But for frost bite to occur, you would need a wind chill factor of 32F.
So Cinnamon queen and australorp no longer have them. The whites on (barred rock) comb did diminish, but the corners on her waffles are still present. It supposed to be in the between 48F-39F tonight up till tomorrow morning but like I mentioned they sleep in their coop and she didn’t have this yesterday when I locked them in. It was windy last night but it was 70s. hopefully it goes away like it did for her friends. Thank you for the helpful info.
 
I agree, too warm for frost bite, but cold dry wind can definitely dry out the skin.

I've been concerned about the same things, but I'm in southern BC. For the last week and a half we've had temperatures -8 -10c during the day and -15 -20c at night. That's like 12f to -2f. Our cold can be damp, which is concerning.

I put petroleum jelly on yesterday, I didn't have any so finally got into town to pick some up, but I might have been too late and I'm really not sure how often to apply either.

Moisture is the enemy of exposed skin in the cold. I've dealt with all kinds of extreme cold conditions my whole life, like, -40s before the windchill factor is added in the maritimes and prairies, (my thermometer doesn't even have numbers under -40 😬😅🤣) but first year with chickens.

I've been told chickens are fine, even in extreme cold temperatures as long as it's dry, but despite the cold, it can often be damp here. We had a warmer day this week during the day, the sunshine was beautiful, got up to around 0c in the sun. 32f.

But the drop to -16c, 2f I think was too much. My roo has been my biggest concern.

He's a BCM that was given to us, but he's clearly not pure BCM, he has a giant carnation comb and his wattles are nearly halfway down his chest. He has struggled the most with the cold and yesterday a couple of the girls had white tips or entire fingers on their combs.

I didn't think they'd have so much trouble since their combs aren't extremely big, but they do have a few fingers that are slender so I guess that's a factor.

I've got their water wrapped in heat tape to keep from freezing and up on a stump so they don't have to bend low and dip their wattles in.

Not sure what more I can do for them. I've run a heat lamp for them so they do have a bit of heat inside inside coop that they can go to when too cold. Piles of straw for deep bedding and I've added loads of straw ever few days during this cold snap to help keep it dryer and try to pile it against the walls inside, especially where they hang out most.

The girls are all still laying, so that's something 🤷🏽‍♀️

But does the jelly need to be daily? Weekly? The once and it just stays on?
 
I agree, too warm for frost bite, but cold dry wind can definitely dry out the skin.

I've been concerned about the same things, but I'm in southern BC. For the last week and a half we've had temperatures -8 -10c during the day and -15 -20c at night. That's like 12f to -2f. Our cold can be damp, which is concerning.

I put petroleum jelly on yesterday, I didn't have any so finally got into town to pick some up, but I might have been too late and I'm really not sure how often to apply either.

Moisture is the enemy of exposed skin in the cold. I've dealt with all kinds of extreme cold conditions my whole life, like, -40s before the windchill factor is added in the maritimes and prairies, (my thermometer doesn't even have numbers under -40 😬😅🤣) but first year with chickens.

I've been told chickens are fine, even in extreme cold temperatures as long as it's dry, but despite the cold, it can often be damp here. We had a warmer day this week during the day, the sunshine was beautiful, got up to around 0c in the sun. 32f.

But the drop to -16c, 2f I think was too much. My roo has been my biggest concern.

He's a BCM that was given to us, but he's clearly not pure BCM, he has a giant carnation comb and his wattles are nearly halfway down his chest. He has struggled the most with the cold and yesterday a couple of the girls had white tips or entire fingers on their combs.

I didn't think they'd have so much trouble since their combs aren't extremely big, but they do have a few fingers that are slender so I guess that's a factor.

I've got their water wrapped in heat tape to keep from freezing and up on a stump so they don't have to bend low and dip their wattles in.

Not sure what more I can do for them. I've run a heat lamp for them so they do have a bit of heat inside inside coop that they can go to when too cold. Piles of straw for deep bedding and I've added loads of straw ever few days during this cold snap to help keep it dryer and try to pile it against the walls inside, especially where they hang out most.

The girls are all still laying, so that's something 🤷🏽‍♀️

But does the jelly need to be daily? Weekly? The once and it just stays on?
@azygous hopefully they can provide more info.!

For me luckily since then the weather has been warm and cozy, except for yesterday! Temperatures dropped to 20 degrees F and is extremely windy. I literally just woke up and going to check on my girls now. I did my best in winterizing their coop (no drafts but enough ventilation over away from their roosts). Fingers crossed 🤞🏻.
 
@azygous hopefully they can provide more info.!

For me luckily since then the weather has been warm and cozy, except for yesterday! Temperatures dropped to 20 degrees F and is extremely windy. I literally just woke up and going to check on my girls now. I did my best in winterizing their coop (no drafts but enough ventilation over away from their roosts). Fingers crossed 🤞🏻.
Sounds like you're doing awesome! Looking forward to hearing how your flock faired!
 
Sounds like you're doing awesome! Looking forward to hearing how your flock faired!
They’re all alive and doing fine. “Phew!”
Their water was frozen rock solid, just buried their watering dish a little and moved it to the sunniest spot possible to try and keep it warm till the heated watered I ordered gets here.

Love to hear how it goes on your side! Good luck and stay warm 😊.
 
They’re all alive and doing fine. “Phew!”
Their water was frozen rock solid, just buried their watering dish a little and moved it to the sunniest spot possible to try and keep it warm till the heated watered I ordered gets here.

Love to hear how it goes on your side! Good luck and stay warm 😊.
This is my roo today, believe it or not, he looks BETTER today!
 

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