Uh oh.. does this mean my chickens are getting frostbitten?

[ella]

Here are some frostbite pictures:

Early frostbite shows as bright royal purple. As it warms the purple will subside and the ends will turn translucent with black scabs at the tips. The scabs will eventually fall off leaving the comb a bit shorter than it was.

Roosters seem to be more suseptible. Their combs are usually bigger and they tend to stay out longer because they're looking after the hens.

 

[OPIE]

Well, acording to the pics, my roo is frost bit. His comb and waddles have black on the tips. I have a 150 watt heat lamp in there coop. What else can I do to help him?

 

[ella]

Not much. Monty (the one in the pic) got snuggles.

If he seems to be in pain you could put a tablet of asprin in his water. Once they lose the very ends they don't seem to have a problem with it any longer. He'll be fine.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Wow, I also think one of my hens had a little frostbite, according to the pics. I am new to all of this, so didn't know to put vaseline on the combs. Even though this is sunny (northern) California, the temp was 32F at night for a few days, mid 40s daytime. I have a 150W light in the coop, which I keep on from 4:30 til 9pm most days, but left on all night for warmth those few frosty nights. Still, the black appeared on one comb. Now, her comb is a little shorter in that area. I guess I will start using vaseline when it approaches freezing. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Again, thanks for the info.

Steffanie - 4 Buff Orpington lap chickens, and 2 tabby fur children

 

[OPIE]

Man, my roo has problems! About half his comb is black, the back 25% is white! What does this mean!

 

[mrbstephens]

It's getting down to 25 F here tonight. The hen house is mostly draft free and has good ventilation under the roof. At what temp does frostbite tend to set in? My roo has one BIG comb! He also has one BIG temper and would really hate me putting anything on him.

 

[Uzuri]

My roo got frostbit the first time at 28 F -- that's right, just 4 degrees below freezing. And that's the outside temp, not the chicken-warmed coop temp.

The reason for this, so far as I understand, was because our humidity was INSANE at the time. I've decided since that I'd probably done everything I could short of a climate controlled coop, since it's rather difficult to get the inside humidity in a coop *lower* than the surrounding air humidity.

Since then we've had several nights in the teens but dry. The only time he's registered frostbite again was, you guessed it, on a wet night in the 20s. The second time was also before I put a hover in the coop (to keep the warm air down lower) and on a night when I'd not had the chance to put the rooster-excluder in the nest box (chance for him to sleep with his comb touching wood that was colder than the inside air temperature).

I'm a little concerned that we're supposed to have a damp week again, but you deal with the weather you're given.