Frostbitten Rooster

[Jbugner23]

Need major advice!
we’ve been battling some severe frostbite on our rooster. We live in Northern MN where every now and then our nights get down to -20 F. the other night it got down to -12F inside our chicken coop and that’s when our rooster got severe frostbite. He has had frostbite since the beginning of winter, just on the tips of his comb and wattle. But now his comb is looking really bad. We have been putting bag balm and a natural tonic (liquid herbs/spices) on it and we finally brought him inside yesterday(he’s been inside for almost 24hrs now). I don’t know how to tell if it’s infected. It was kind of bloody yesterday and that’s why we decided to bring him in. It’s black but not swollen. We just don’t know what to do now and we can’t find a vet that takes care of farm animals.
he is also really hard to catch and handle. He really hates to be touched or held.

 

[Isaac 0]

How much ventilation does your coop have?

If the humidity is high you're bound to get frostbite, Last year during -30 temps not one of my chicken's got frostbite due to the fact that there is plenty of ventilation for ammonia and humidity to escape.

@Wyorp Rock

@Eggcessive

 

[Jbugner23]

How much ventilation does your coop have?

If the humidity is high you're bound to get frostbite, Last year during -30 temps not one of my chicken's got frostbite due to the fact that there is plenty of ventilation for ammonia and humidity to escape.

@Wyorp Rock

@Eggcessive

How much ventilation does your coop have?

If the humidity is high you're bound to get frostbite, Last year during -30 temps not one of my chicken's got frostbite due to the fact that there is plenty of ventilation for ammonia and humidity to escape.

@Wyorp Rock

@Eggcessive

That’s another thing we’re having a really hard time with. We have ventilation on both walls of our coop above the roost they sleep on. It’s a pretty big coop too. We have 14 hens and 1 rooster. We are doing the deep litter method and turn the bedding every other day sometimes everyday. We scrape up the poop from the poop board everyday and pick up the wet droppings on the bedding that make it wet. We also take out any wet bedding we see or snow that has been brought in from our feet. We’ve put DE in with the bedding, and the chickens spend almost all day outside too besides the ones laying eggs. We do have their water inside because it has to be on top of the water heater We have and the inside of the coop is the only place with electricity. We do not heat the coop.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your rooster. Frostbite of a large comb is kind of a given in climates like MN in the dead of winter. I remember a few last year involving feet. Where I live, it only gets down in single digits for a few weeks a year, and I have seen frostbite in a couple of roosters with larger combs. My humidity in my coops apwas low and I always have good overhead ventilation.

I wouldn’t do any touching, massaging, or applying any creams or ointments to his comb. Even vaseline can freeze and add to his frostbite. If his is kept inside, you can spray Vetericyn or a similar wound spray on it. It will most like heal and become rounded off.

A worse case from MN last winter had a rooster whose whole comb was swollen, blistered and leaking serum. It took a couple of weeks of treating with vetericyn, but he survived.

 

[Jbugner23]

Sorry about your rooster. Frostbite of a large comb is kind of a given in climates like MN in the dead of winter. I remember a few last year involving feet. Where I live, it only gets down in single digits for a few weeks a year, and I have seen frostbite in a couple of roosters with larger combs. My humidity in my coops apwas low and I always have good overhead ventilation.

I wouldn’t do any touching, massaging, or applying any creams or ointments to his comb. Even vaseline can freeze and add to his frostbite. If his is kept inside, you can spray Vetericyn or a similar wound spray on it. It will most like heal and become rounded off.

A worse case from MN last winter had a rooster whose whole comb was swollen, blistered and leaking serum. It took a couple of weeks of treating with vetericyn, but he survived.

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into getting that spray. Hopefully I’ll be able to find it at a local store.

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into getting that spray. Hopefully I’ll be able to find it at a local store.

You can usually find a feed store brand of wound spray, or make make your own with chlorhexidene and water. That is found in most stores as Hibiclens or other brand. Here is Vetericyn on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Vetericyn-Plus-Animal-Wound-Spray/dp/B00425DZTM

 

[Jbugner23]

You can usually find a feed store brand of wound spray, or make make your own with chlorhexidene and water. That is found in most stores as Hibiclens or other brand. Here is Vetericyn on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Vetericyn-Plus-Animal-Wound-Spray/dp/B00425DZTM

Thank you so much.

 

[vantain]

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into getting that spray. Hopefully I’ll be able to find it at a local store.

Just remember that Veterycin is a liquid spray, so be careful of using it in still freezing temps.

I am in Minnesota...current temperature -13F and falling. My cockerel has a very large comb and will be losing some of his points. Despite my efforts, it cannot be avoided. I do not use Vaseline or Bag Balm for the reasons mentioned. Humidity in my coop is equal to or less than the outside humidity, so not much I can do to improve on that. They will heal, and it will not be an issue next year. I’m
Sure it’s not comfortable, but it won’t kill them
If properly handled.

 

[vantain]

Oops..this was from last year...doh