Swollen, frostbite and bleeding wattles

[talliejo]

New here. New to chickens and new to Alaska. Living off grid 65 miles from nearest vet. Temps hit -18 F yesterday.

Have 2 roosters- 8 months old. Wasn’t planning on roosters but ended up with them. They both have large combs and wattles. Both have been experiencing slight frostbite last few weeks.

Yesterday- rooster #1 suddenly had blood all over his chest. I thought the other birds (I have 13 hens as well) were pecking at him so I separated him overnight thinking the bleeding would coagulate overnight. When I checked on him in the morning, the blood was frozen solid and was about 6”x4” of solid frozen blood. I brought him into the warmer garage (35), washed him up and examined for injuries. Could not identify anything but the wattles themselves were bleeding. I put on some antibiotic cream and some kwickstop. He is doing much better now. However, I am now noticing rooster #2 has extremely swollen wattles and are also starting to bleed. I have brought him in to the garage also.
I feel ok about rooster #1 for now, but I am not sure what to do about the swollen wattles for rooster #2.

Rooster #1 has runny poop. Not sure about rooster #2.

Could this be from the extreme cold weather or should I be worried about something else?

 

[Ilovemychicks08]

New here. New to chickens and new to Alaska. Living off grid 65 miles from nearest vet. Temps hit -18 F yesterday.

Have 2 roosters- 8 months old. Wasn’t planning on roosters but ended up with them. They both have large combs and wattles. Both have been experiencing slight frostbite last few weeks.

Yesterday- rooster #1 suddenly had blood all over his chest. I thought the other birds (I have 13 hens as well) were pecking at him so I separated him overnight thinking the bleeding would coagulate overnight. When I checked on him in the morning, the blood was frozen solid and was about 6”x4” of solid frozen blood. I brought him into the warmer garage (35), washed him up and examined for injuries. Could not identify anything but the wattles themselves were bleeding. I put on some antibiotic cream and some kwickstop. He is doing much better now. However, I am now noticing rooster #2 has extremely swollen wattles and are also starting to bleed. I have brought him in to the garage also.
I feel ok about rooster #1 for now, but I am not sure what to do about the swollen wattles for rooster #2.

Rooster #1 has runny poop. Not sure about rooster #2.

Could this be from the extreme cold weather or should I be worried about something else?

Im not sure about if its from cold temps or not. Maybe the roosters are fighting. My chickens last year started fighting when it got cold out. Hope you can get some more info i live in a cold state to so hope i can learn something.

 

[Coops Dad]

That looks like frostbite to me. A little Vaseline or Neosporin will help protect them from further injury and speed healing. As you've discovered, large combed breeds take a beating from seriously cold weather. One of my old roosters got frostbite on his comb and wattles in the freeze of 2020. His hens wouldn't stop pecking the blood and damaged flesh so I had to separate him to maintain the first aid regimen. He was as unhappy as I was about it.

The points of his comb healed up but, instead of sharp peaks, he looked like his comb was scalloped.

 

[Eggcessive]

Yes, it does look like frostbite on both of them. Are they inside a coop with decent overhead ventilation, but no direct air drafts? When they dip their wattles into water during below freezing temperatures, it can cause frostbite on the wattles. It can be difficult to prevent frostbitten combs when temps are below zero. Using ointments or creams on them can even make it worse because those may freeze. I would not do anything. The wattles will eventually go down. It might be good to place them somewhere warmer, but not too warm for awhile. Have these roosters always lived with you, or have they recently come to you?

 

[talliejo]

Yes, it does look like frost on both of them. Are they inside a coop with decent overhead ventilation, but no direct air drafts? When they dip their wattles into water during below freezing temperatures, it can cause frostbite on the wattles. It can be difficult to prevent frostbitten combs when temps are below zero. Using ointments or creams on them can even make it worse because those may freeze. I would not do anything. The wattles will eventually go down. It might be good to place them somewhere warmer, but not too warm for awhile. Have these roosters always lived with you, or have they recently come to you?

Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve had them since they were chicks. Their coop is insulated and has ventilation at the top. I wasn’t so worried about the frostbite as much as I am about the swelling and bleeding. What do you think could be causing that? I’ve put them in the shop where the temp is between 25-35. Think that’s ok? How long should they be in there? I have the two of them in a dog kennel right now because I have no where else to keep them.

 

[talliejo]

That looks like frostbite to me. A little Vaseline or Neosporin will help protect them from further injury and speed healing. As you've discovered, large combed breeds take a beating from seriously cold weather. One of my old roosters got frostbite on his comb and wattles in the freeze of 2020. His hens wouldn't stop pecking the blood and damaged flesh so I had to separate him to maintain the first aid regimen. He was as unhappy as I was about it.

The points of his comb healed up but, instead of sharp peaks, he looked like his comb was scalloped.

Any thoughts on the swelling and bleeding?

 

[Coops Dad]

Any thoughts on the swelling and bleeding?

That's common in frostbite, ime. The water in the tissue turns into ice crystals, puncturing cell walls, damaging tissue and leading to edema and bleeding.

 

[Eggcessive]

Being in the warmer shop for now will help. You can’t have them in too warm an environment, or they would not stay used to the temps. Let us know how the wattles fet, and it would be helpful to document the combs and wattles with pictures here.

 

[talliejo]

That's common in frostbite, ime. The water in the tissue turns into ice crystals, puncturing cell walls, damaging tissue and leading to edema and bleeding.

Any suggestions for reducing the swelling?

 

[Eggcessive]

The wattles are very sensitive to pain when swollen. I would not do anything, or not handle them. They will eventually decrease in swelling if he stays in where it is above freezing. Here is some reading about frostbite and a thread to read:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-health/frostbite-in-chickens/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/frostbite-on-roosters-wattles.1145572/