Treating frostbite

[Cyprus]

When a chicken gets frostbite on his/her comb or wattles, how do you choose to treat it?
Minor vs Severe frostbite.

I've treated my cases of minor frostbite with lots of R&R and some Petroleum Jelly.
But now, as a few probably already know, I have a Leghorn hen whose entire comb is severely frostbitten.
She presented with a frozen solid comb, which slowly turned dark purple. Now her comb is lighter but completely swollen, cracked, bleeding and oozing clear fluid.
How would you choose to treat this?
Prevention is key, but if that fails then treatment options are needed.

Cyprus

 

[Kessel23]

I don't treat mine, I just let it fall off, never had a problem. Sorry I can't help, good luck with your hen.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

If its oozing it is infected. You will need to treat with antibiotics. If a veterinarian is possible plesse take them in. You can put vetrycin on in which will help with the pain but oozing is infection. Keep her out of the cold to treat. If no vet is possible i would use vetrycin and a mild antibiotic. If no improvement you can amputate that part of her comb. @Eggcessive might be able to help. I havent had much experience with chickens and frostbite...only people. Pics would be very helpful. Usually you dont need to amputate unless its already black which for chickens it usually just falls off. Until you get someone to respond who knows better than I: out of the cold, vetrycin on the problem area, vitamins and electrolytes. Sorry i cant help more

 

[Cyprus]

Petroleum Jelly is on the comb, not taking her to the vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

Her comb is very painful, and I would not touch it at all. Massage or handling can damage the tissue. Do not break any blisters. You can use Vetericyn Wound Spray on the comb, but I usually leave them alone, and they will self-dub eventually when the comb heals. It will probably be rounded off possibly down to the base over several weeks. The comb may turn from white to black to tan or just to black. That is supposed to protect the comb from further infection. Your picture of the fresh frostbite is very good. @Melky was looking for some good pictures earlier today to use in an article I think. So sorry that her comb got frostbitten, but I have seen some cases not quite so severe. Here are some articles that are good about frostbite treatment and prevention:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/
https://articles.extension.org/pages/70255/frostbite-in-chickens

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Yes definately frostbite. You need to treat like its a burn. But it looks like stage three frostbite which is dead tissue. Stage one is redness...stage 2 is blistering...stage three is dead tissue. You cant bring dead tissue back so if shes not in the cold i would stop the petroleum jelly. Its hard to tell what you have described as oozing from this photo due to the jelly. I would definately use vetrycin on the comb if it is infected. You could just let her comb heal and the dead tissue fall off but i worry about the oozing.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Her comb is very painful, and I would not touch it at all. Massage or handling can damage the tissue. You can use Vetericyn Wound Spray on the comb, but I usually leave them alone, and they will self-dub eventually when the comb heals. It will probably be rounded off possibly down to the base over several weeks. The comb may turn from white to black to tan or just to black. Your picture of the fresh frostbite is very good. @Melky was looking for some good pictures earlier today to use in an article I think. Here are some articles that are good about frostbite treatment and prevention:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/
https://articles.extension.org/pages/70255/frostbite-in-chickens

Thanks for stopping in for her! Ive been meaning to follow you but havent seen you in a while. You always give good advice

 

[Kris5902]

Ouch! So sorry for you and your poor girl, I don’t know enough about frostbite, but would suggest leaving it alone as much as possible to heal. Looks like she might lose a good bit of it. I would watch for pus, signs of infection. The oozing could be blisters breaking open? Guessing here. Lots of frostbite threads here lately (awful weather!)

 

[Eggcessive]

Two more good articles with degrees of frostbite diagrams and more info:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/frostbite

https://blog.cacklehatchery.com/how-to-recognize-and-treat-frostbite-in-chickens/

 

[Cyprus]

@Melky Can use my photo for their article, as long as they give me credit for the image.

You could just let her comb heal and the dead tissue fall off but i worry about the oozing.

This is what I'm going to do. I will spray with Vetrycin tomorrow and take fresh photos before I do. I have all of tomorrow to monitor her.

I'm trying to keep my pestering to a minimum, as she is recovering from being eggbound.