Vaseline on Combs

[SeaChick]

Hi all-

I have been researching this as well. I found some of the same quotes you did, plus some that suggested that CIRCULATION was part of the equation. Specificaly, that combs with less circulation (not sure how they'd know though) got worse frostbite and that perhaps it was the act of massaging the vaseline in (and incresing circulation) that really helped...

Whatever- no hard evidence. I've been using Burts Bees hand salve as well, the last couple of days (around zero here last night) and it seems to be working. My Red Sex Link showed some white comb tips (I assume frostbite) before I started doing this, and its been far colder since then and the comb hasn't gotten any worse, so it seems to be effective.

Stay warm!
Stacey

 

[Wildsky]

time to start another thread
"how to massage your Roosters Comb on a daily basis"

Spoiled chickens!

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, if massaging combs increased circulation, that would help frostbite because the comb would stay warmer and thus not freeze. Luckily, it doesn't get that cold here so I dont worry about it. Lows usually in the mid 30's with the rare temps in the teens.

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
I would guess when the body temp goes down the blood doesn't bother going all the way up to the comb!

Hence the damaged tissue and frost bite.....
I've been lucky so far........................ (touch wood

)

 

[Rosalind]

Okay, here's evidence that there is no difference:

Chickens in coop area of barn are fairly tame and easy to catch. They roost on 3 1/2 foot roosts at night. I dutifully put Vaseline on the combs and wattles of 1 cochin roo and 1 Buttercup roo.

In Chicken Jail (AKA "the Bachelor Pen"), there are also 1 cochin roo and 1 Buttercup roo. They prefer to roost in the rafters, and are not tame enough to be caught and greased. So I yelled, "If you guys get frostbite, yer bloody combs can fall off for all I care!" and left 'em be.

From October - 21st Dec., there was no heat in either part of the barn. Low temps at night were 17-28F for December, 22-34F for November. The only comb damage of any chicken was from the two roos in the coop area fighting over the ladies.

On 21st Dec, a heater was installed in the coop part of the barn, thus ending the experiment.

 

[ella]

About 2 years ago I had four cockerels, I applied Vaseline to one and his comb froze solid! It was in the teens below zero at the time. The others who I didn't use Vaseline on only experienced frostbite on the tips of their combs. The other lost about 1/2 his comb in the end.

I think it may work if the temps are from the 40's to 30's, but when it gets super cold, I'd hesitate.

That was my experience anyway!

 

[ivan3]

Our chicken `lab' is in Cent. MO., so your mileage will vary:

This is our third winter with chooks and turks.

What we've observed here is that the combination of moisture, produced by chicken respiration, evaporation from the heated water bowl, and inadequate venting of this `fog', led to our problem (ointment and/or temp were the supporting cast).

Chicken Coop is sealed up 6'x7'x8' wood framed, .5" plywood sided affair that was, a long time ago, our daughter's `tree' house. It has NO drafts, but has adjustable venting (in/out) on east wall (after frostbite episodes resulted in improvements). There is a large, heated dog waterer in the coop, as well as a hooded light fixture fitted with a 25W bulb; not much heat to speak of but fixture it is bolted to the rafters and aimed at the ceiling in order to improve circulation of air and give `em a bit of light on the mornings when I have to dig my way to coop (not often). There is a temp/humid. monitor in coop and same model outside hanging on fence (can check both from our kitchen). We also have tarps on the north/west sides of run fencing (prevailing wind).

The first winter we used 125W heat lamp in coop on the coldest nights (-5° - -10°F). This was the only winter the roo, and the hens with larger combs, suffered from frostbite. We had read about the pros and cons of using vaseline (some folks experience was that any oil based substance promoted radiation of heat away from the comb/wattles more rapidly than the tissue would lose using nothing at all). Petroleum/other oil based ointments do decrease `chapping' , and the act of massaging the stuff onto the combs and wattles does improve circulation (used A&D/Bag Balm/etc., on different occasions, i.e., `agghhh! Whats in the medicine cabinet!??!'). The roo would trance when the goop was being applied, but would turn up with more whitish discolorations, that would soon go black, the next morning.
The factors that seem to prevent frostbite are careful attention to coop circulation (proper venting/keeping the humidity level as low as possible - within a few percentage ponts of outside level), and protection from the wind when they are outside.

The temp. dropped, throughout the day, last Sunday, from the mid-30's around 3p.m. to 3.8°, with winds 10-30mph, at 4a.m.. The temp in the coop dropped to 12° and the humidity dropped to match the outside level (40%-50%). On Monday the wind continued to blow (wind chills appreciably

below zero) and the air temp. never hit 20° The chooks hung out in the northwest corner of their run, behind the tarps, all day. I'm rather bemused by this behavior as the lightest fall of nearly invisible snow pellets will send them scrambling for their coop (won't see them again until the last little patch has melted away). Not even the slightest `blackening' of comb points/tips on the roo or his ladies (no emollients or pungent `ungents' required or applied).

To go very low tech on the venting in a nicely sealed up coop: Cut a hole, low, in the east wall (diam. can be increased later so start at about an inch) just above the highest level the bedding comes to along inside wall.
Cover this lower opening with hardware cloth on the inside of the coop.
Drill a scond hole just above the vent hole (the diameter of whatever bolt you have handy that you have a wing nut for).
Fit a washer on the bolt, slide the bolt through the hole from the inside of the coop, glue the washer/bolt head to the inside wall.
Take the lid from a large can of peaches (or whatever) and glue a thin - rubber drain cover/section cut from silcone? cooking sheet - to one side of the lid.
The diameter of the `rubber' `circle' - gasket - should be about .25" greater than the lid itself (extending beyond the edge of the lid far enough to avoid edge of lid when making adjustments, and to insure a good seal when the lid is bolted to wall on the outside of the coop).
Punch/drill a hole through your new `gasket', near the edge, and slip the lid over the bolt. Fit a washer and the wing nut on the bolt and tighten down the wing nut so the lid/gasket fits snugly against the outside of the wall and over the vent hole (vent is then ready to use).
Repeat this process for the upper vent (as high as is possible to easily reach on east wall).
Wing nuts can then be loosened, `lids' (insulated, self-sealing vent covers) shifted to `open' /`close' vents to your specs, and wing nuts tightened down to hold the `vent covers' in place.

This will create an infinitely adjustable venting system that introduces no drafts and can be quickly and easily configured (increase or decrease circulation to whatever degree you determine best by opening/closing upper/lower vents with the twist of a couple of wing nuts). Battery operated temp/humid devices, to test your setup, are bargain bin items these days.
This is a simple, nearly free, method of decreasing probablity of frostbite (no $$$ on heat lamps) and a means of avoiding chooks made grouchy by light pollution.

Of course, palliative measures, i.e., `rooster caps' (little knitted `hoods' over combs, buttoned under the wattles) might become as popular as chicken diapers... Just don't expect to market them on a `family friendly' forum as a sock... (who do you think you are? Eldridge Cleaver?

)

Roodawg says: "it could be worse..." (12/10/06: making repairs after ice storm - next day 2ft. snow, `Swanson' chooks, yep - but no frostbite)

 

[Wildsky]

its great to hear everyone's first hand experience.

My coop isn't SHUT TIGHT! there is a window on the far side that is not sealed 100% and one into the horse barn also not sealed 100%
I think that slight air-vent, helps prevent the build up of moisture in the coop - its pretty darn dry in there, COLD but dry..... and there is no BREEZE - I'm pretty happy so far with a banged together fixed up shed...... (even my cruddy nest boxes work pretty good)

 

[Picco]

The Seneca Park Zoo uses vaseline on the thin edges of their elephants' ears to prevent frostbite when they are taken outside for exercise in the winter. I think the method must work if it is used on such valuable animals.

I tried it this week on my roosters' combs and it didn't work for one of them, but I think because it was -15 and I don't think there is much help at that temperature. The others don't seem to have been affected so it may have worked for them

 

[ZuniBee]

Once I noticed a little frostbite on some of the combs I decided I was going to use vaseline the next time it dropped below freezing. The day came and patiently put vaseline on every comb and wattle. The chickens seemed to really like the massage. Anyway, later that night I went to check temps and the heat from the chicken kind of melted the vaseline and it was all over them (where they wiped their head on their feathers). To me it seemed like a huge mess.

Anyway, after three days of below freezing weather none of the birds had any sign of frostbite. However, the greasy mess on the feathers made the birds look very dirty for quite some time.

The one really positive thing I noticed is that the combs and wattles really started looking good about three days after putting on the vaseline. They looked really red and healthy. Not sure it was related to the vaseline or not.

I will not use vaseline again due to the mess. This last cold spell I simply added a heat lamp to all coops and kept them locked in until temps were above freezing. If the temps are forecasted to be below freezing all day I plan to use bag balm next time.