Frostbitten comb HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[Old Philosopher]

NEED HELP! IS THIS FROSTBITE OR FOWLPOX???? PICTURES!

hello everyone! i am so excited i found this forum! so here it goes! i have 4 roosters, and all of them started having these black spots on their combs and wattles, so after reading over 1000 posts on frostbite and fowlpox, i'm not any closer to finding an answer. My roos live inside for this harsh winter , every night is below freezing and way too much snow outside, so their coop in insulated and have 3 heat lamps, it extends to other coops and those have windows for sun and has fans for ventilation, so they are happy otherwise, their roosting poles allow them to cover their feet, so not sure if its frostbite or fowlpox. Yesterday i built a little infirmary in my basement for them so i can keep it warm and make sure no one picks at them while they heal, i wasn't able to post PICTURES of them here on BYC, BUT PLEASE visit my site and go under 'PHOTO GALLERY' TO SEE THEM!!
IF ANYONE could please take a look for me, need some help, very new to the chicken world! but loving every minute of it, i dont want to loose any one of them because i didn't give them proper medications. THANKS!!!!


WWW.CHIMBICA.WEEBLY.COM

I realize this is an old post, but the OP says they have 4 roosters, and have been coop-bound during harsh weather. The black spots are most likely from fighting among themselves, especially under crowded conditions,. I had two roosters, one was the son of the dominant male. They started fighting and both look like they'd been hit with a shotgun! The black spots were dried blood. I found a home for the young one, and the older rooster healed up just fine in a couple months with no treatment.

So my real reason for being in this thread is that my Australorpe rooster got frostbite for the first time this year (he's 4+ years old). We have had a string of mild winters, but this one got down to -22F for a few nights, and with 30" of snow in their yard, the birds were kept in. Combination of temp and humidity, from what I've read here. Also, it seems no action was the right action at this point. The tips of his comb have blackened. I'm going to just keep an eye on him and make sure there is no obvious sign of infection, and wait for the tips to fall off...unless someone has a better idea.

BTW, my Avatar is a picture of him, so you can see why I'm bummed about that comb being damaged!

 

[Eggcessive]

I realize this is an old post, but the OP says they have 4 roosters, and have been coop-bound during harsh weather. The black spots are most likely from fighting among themselves, especially under crowded conditions,. I had two roosters, one was the son of the dominant male. They started fighting and both look like they'd been hit with a shotgun!  The black spots were dried blood. I found a home for the young one, and the older rooster healed up just fine in a couple months with no treatment.

So my real reason for being in this thread is that my Australorpe rooster got frostbite for the first time this year (he's 4+ years old). We have had a string of mild winters, but this one got down to -22F for a few nights, and with 30" of snow in their yard, the birds were kept in.  Combination of temp and humidity, from what I've read here. Also, it seems no action was the right action at this point. The tips of his comb have blackened.  I'm going to just keep an eye on him and make sure there is no obvious sign of infection, and wait for the tips to fall off...unless someone has a better idea.

BTW, my Avatar is a picture of him, so you can see why I'm bummed about that comb being damaged!

I have seen frostbite in a couple of roosters similar to yours, and because roosters typically hate to be handled, I left mine alone and they healed fine with the rounding off of the combs eventually.
Many use plain neosporin or Vetericyn, but since Vetericyn spray is liquid, it might not be so good in freezing temperatures. It is always sad to see a beautiful handsome comb changed by frostbite, but it is a part of having chickens in winter.

 

[Sandychic]

My roo has some minor frostbite too. It’s been warmer , more average temps the last week, but before that minus 5 and such. ThNks for the advice. I’ll keep an eye on him.

 

[wvchics]

I used a heat lamp. Many people said it was cruel chickens will get too hot. When I walked out and my too is shivering I felt like a jerk and turned the lamp on. At this point it was -7 and he was starting to get tinges of black from frostbite. Since I started using the lamp he's healing great. The best policy is prevention and observation. If it's not cold enough to freeze their water it's not going to freeze parts of their body. I turn the lamp off based on their behavior. If they are out running around they aren't cold. If they are climbing in the coop in the middle of the day they are most likely cold or laying eggs. As for already being frostbit it depends on how bad it is. Leaving dead flesh could lead to infection, but performing surgery on your chickens could entail it's own risks. It's a hard decision to make. Hope everyone finds a solution for their roos.

 

[Elizabeth2]

These are pictures of his frost bitten comb. Frost bit. Then how it healed and feel off. No action was taken.

These are pictures of his frost bitten comb. Frost bit. Then how it healed and feel off. No action was taken.

Thanks for sharing, one of my roo's with a very large comb is experiencing frostbite such as this now (even with preventative, we've had -16 for a few days, then 40's, too much of a temp change for the entire month of Jan). Appreciate the photos & what to expect, pretty scary for a 1st experience. Used Vetericyn to prevent infection, seemed to heal quickly - looks gnarly, but thank you, I know he's going to be OK!