Winter is coming

[Mother hen 119]

How do I keep my chickens from getting frostbite on the water? How do I know when to treat them for frostbite?

 

[Mother hen 119]

Ment to say Wattles. Sorry about that.

 

[Dayrel]

Prevention is a better idea than treatment. What breeds/sexes of chickens do you have and where are you located?

Also- For a certain period of time (not sure how long), you can go back and edit previous posts.

 

[junebuggena]

In a well ventilated and dry coop, frostbite is rarely an issue. Most often, frostbite happens when well meaning people close up the coop too much, in an effort to trap body heat. Chickens produce a ton of moisture overnight, both from their poo and from their breathing. All this moisture needs a way to escape the coop to avoid condensing on combs and wattles and freezing on the birds causing frostbite.

 

[Mother hen 119]

Thanks for the tip about the editing.

Now I don’t know Exactly what I breed they are. I got them from in auction and they don’t tell you what breed they are. I am new at this raising chickens but I am loving it. Here are some pictures though. I do know 2 of them are Roosters oh and I live in Maryland.

 

[Mother hen 119]

 

[Dayrel]

junebuggena gave you the key info. Some breeds are more cold-sensitive than others and roosters larger comb/wattles are more at risk of frost-bite. You aren't in an extreme cold area like Minnesota or Canada, so that will help. Ventilation and dryness are the keys to prevent frostbite.

 

[junebuggena]

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Looks like you have a few red sexlinks, a Faverolle, a Silver Laced Wyandotte, a Swedish Flower Hen rooster, a Cochin rooster, an Old English Game bantam hen, and a few mixed breeds.
All should be pretty cold-hardy.

 

[Mother hen 119]

Thanks. I had someone tells I had to put Vaseline on them

 

[Mrs. K]

When mine have gotten frostbite, was when the roost was too close to the ceiling. I did not get that feeling from your pictures, but sometimes pictures are misleading.

As stated above moisture is the culprit. Damp chickens are cold chickens. Good deep dry bedding, and ventilation. The time I am most apt to have problems is if there is a bit of frozen manure, due to a long spell of very cold weather, then it warms up, manure thaws and releases a ton of moisture, then that night it gets cold again.

Now I really pile the bedding deep beneath the roost, and every so often I sprinkle it with scratch. The girls will turn that bedding breaking up the manure, and leaving dry bedding on top. Works well for me.

Work on the idea of dry, do not worry about warm. Dry birds out of the prevailing wind are warm.

Mrs K