Swollen wattles - frostbite!! Help!

[Maleficent265]

I've never had an issue with frostbite but this is my first year owning a rooster... It seems they're more susceptible to it.

It's gotten down to the negatives and my poor rooster has suffered. He's a leghorn with a big comb and big wattles so he's not considered a winter-hardy bird and I realize that... But my aunt ended up with him, couldn't keep him, called and was shedding tears because her only option was to kill and throw him in her deep freeze. Her chickens are basically treated like children so of course I had the heart and an opening in my flock.

WELL this was our first winter together and after checking the flock, my husband comes into the kitchen holding our rooster and he looks TERRIBLE.

His wattles are swollen pretty bad and we pretty much knew what it was right away. We made the mistake of switching out our nipple waterer for a heated water bowl after having an issue with frozen water and suddenly his poor wattles are done for.

We're going to switch the water back to the nipple dribbler and add more ventilation as soon as we can!!

Any advice on how to help him or what to do treatment wise?? The weather is supposed to break tomorrow and go into the mid fifties!!! So I'm hoping that's going to help?

I'm kind of at a loss.

Any advice would be super helpful!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Leave him alone. It will eventually heal up. The black spots will fall off. The swelling is from increased blood supply. It will promote healing. As long as he eats and drinks let him be. It will take a few months for it to totally heal. He may look a bit miserable, and do a lot of funky head shaking for a while. Messing with the tissue can cause pain and can damage more tissue.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I don't have direct experience with this. But I've done a fair amount of reading in the forums as of late on winter woes and chickens, so until someone else chimes in here's what I've learned.

A lot of people say there isn't much that can be done, aside from creating an indoor coop when it gets that cold. Frostbite can be painful, but you can apply raw unpasteurized honey. You'll want to use your fingers to do this. Thoroughly coat the wattle, and expect a sticky rooster when he turns his head to preen his feathers.

Honey is water soluble. You'll be able to easily remove it with a warm washcloth or a nice epsom salt bath. The honey is an excellent healer and has been recommended for frostbite in people and chickens alike. It's nourishing and soothing as well.

You can gently press your fingers on either side of his comb and release. But don't touch the frostbite. Compression massage to the comb will flush it with blood and increase circulation. Half of my roosters comb turned a deep blue in the days following a coyote attack. Not frostbite, but still concerning. It only took a few rounds of massage, just a few seconds at a time, to noticeably improve the color.

And good idea returning to the nipple waterers. I'm not sure what you can do about them freezing, though, unless you put warm water in there and wrap the bucket in chicken proof insulation that they won't peck.

 

[Maleficent265]

Leave him alone. It will eventually heal up. The black spots will fall off. The swelling is from increased blood supply. It will promote healing. As long as he eats and drinks let him be. It will take a few months for it to totally heal. He may look a bit miserable, and do a lot of funky head shaking for a while. Messing with the tissue can cause pain and can damage more tissue.

Oh that's so low maintenance!!

Luckily I haven't touched the injury other than a gentle poke just to inspect. I did read where messing with it can damage it further...

The black part will fall off as in he'll lose half of his wattles?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Oh that's so low maintenance!!

Luckily I haven't touched the injury other than a gentle poke just to inspect. I did read where messing with it can damage it further...

The black part will fall off as in he'll lose half of his wattles?

Unfortunately he will lose that tissue. I always have roosters with frostbite damage due to our colder temperatures. All have healed up without me doing anything. Chickens are really good at healing up.

Here's my barnevelder rooster. He's lost all his points on his comb and half a wattle. Unfortunately this year the remaining long wattle tissue currently has frostbite, so he will even up this winter. Next year he will have even less tissue to cause him problems.

 

[Maleficent265]

He's so pretty!!!

I won't mess with him then... I was hoping he'd keep his wattles but as long as there's nothing life threatening going on, I can deal with that! Thanks so much!

 

[TexasSam]

If it continues to be cold where you are you might think about some coconut oil or bag balm