Still cold. Do you see Daisy’s breath?
First something pretty: The Old Codger has given me his snow shoes .. aren’t they wonderful. When I walk the dogs across the snow in the morning I shall be wearing these . 
I look forward to our morning walk.
And now for something not so pretty. The arctic storm has left its mark on some of the chickens. The poor old barn chooks especially the white Leghorns have frostbite on their combs. It is cold now, but it has been evil cold these last few days.
Their combs and wattles have gone creamy and puffy, and then darker by the day. The areas will blacken and then fall off.(One of the roosters has a completely black comb already) These girls will always bear the scars of the Storm of 2014.
They have heat lamps but as you know in the night time they roosted above the lights, keeping their feet warm, but their heads were exposed. I have very tingly stingy toes myself from the cold, my feet got the worst of it, and a thumping headache which should get better today as the air warms up, so I think they will all have the same feeling in their heads and will hopefully improve as we drift back up to freezing point. They will need some extra TLC though.
We also need to watch for infection so I will try and catch all the afflicted girls over the next few nights and pop them into the warmer chook house, then I can keep a better eye on them.
It seems to me that geese don’t just fly South For the winter they fly South ALL winter.
It was a little warmer again yesterday so the tractor started on the first try and John was able to merrily scoop snow and dump it in untidy piles in out of the way places. Happiness filled.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
74 responses to “Frostbite on Barn Chickens”
Am glad you have the snoiw shoes as an extra, safe way to get around! Had no idea of the problems extreme cold could cause to poultry ~ quite a story to tell my neighbours many of whom, coming from Europe, did not speak English and had to leave their erstwhile professional careers and studies behind – they all ran poultry farms here originally – that is how my Village came into being!! With the coldest days -2-3 C that was one problem they fortunately did not encounter!!!
That somehow ill spelled note above came from yours truly ~ no clue how THAT happened . . .my details were there 🙂 ! Hope you had a decent day!!
I had a more than decent day thank you Eha Mama. No Wind!!! Wonderful.. c
Then sleep well, Milady ~ said with a big, big smile on my face . . .
smiles are good.. c
When the cold, face stinging, biting wind stops it is time for rejoicing!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Poor chooks! I hope they will be OK.
I never thought of chickens and frostbite! Poor things. Here’s hoping the rest of the winter is mild so you can all walk on solid ground and feel warm inside and out. P.S. I tried snow shoes once but gave up in about 3 minutes. Just sayin……. 🙂
We live in Indiana and our chickens have frostbite for the second time now. Our leghorns girls, Blue Andalusian & New Hampshire roosters are most afflicted. We do not have electricity in the barns. Wish we did….brrrr. Hope spring comes quickly!
I am so grateful we have electricity, though I would LOVE to have running water out there, carrying buckets when the hoses are frozen is such a job! I hope yours don’t get hit a third time..it feels like winter has only just started.. c
I always make a special request to the Universe each night for protection and comfort for the animals and birds – they are far tougher than we are… and yet they don’t complain. Bless them.
Love the snow shoes, how kind of the Old Codger to bless you with them. Sorry to hear about the chickens’ frostbite. Hopefully no harm will come from it.
You put the chickens in the freezer far too soon!
Hope I am right in thinking the frostbitten bits are ones they don’t really need.
They will be off the lay for a while but once the combs dry up they should be better, c
One of my hens got frost bite before the ‘polar vortex.’ She has a broken comb and the part that broke (flops to the side) got a black spot on it. We have been keeping her inside on nights that are below 15 degrees (it’s a small urban flock). Her black spot has turned white and greyish pink. It seems to be reversing. Has anyone found this?
From what I know about my own frostbit toes, it never totally reverses, but I’m hoping it will reverse some and she won’t lose a chunk of her comb.
many of mine have this white and greyish look, i am also hoping that this means it is not such a deep burn.. c