Re: Frost-bitten Combs

From: nuele mersch (fowls_at_nuele-online.de)
Date: 01/29/05 

Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 15:59:12 +0100

George <GLSmith10@netzero.com> wrote:

> Thanks for your helpful response. I wish I had known before about using
> Vaseline. It's reassuring to me to know that the frostbitten parts of
> the combs will heal and the chickens will return to normal. Will lost
> parts of the comb regrow?

Unfortunately not.

>
> In this kind of weather I leave them closed in their coop all day but
> I'm sure it gets down below freezing inside. It's not heated.

Don't worry about cold too much. Here in Germany, we get temperatures
below freezing for weeks and it doesn't affect the chickens. However,
they *hate* wet, windy weather, and it is of great importance that the
coop is dry and free from draft. Inside the coop, a few degrees below
zero (C) is really nothing to worry about. My coop isn't heated, either.
It's a solid brick building, though. In really bad winters when we get
something like -20C I would think about keeping them indoors, but right
now it's -3 to -8 outside and I let them all out. I leave the coop door
open so everyone who wants to shelter inside can go, some of the older
birds appreciate that (eldest lady is 9 years now)
They don't like to walk through snow, so I clean a bit of the yard for
them and a path to their favourite sheltering place in the bushes next
to the woodshed.

Of course it is best to keep local breeds that are adapted to the
climate. In general, the breeds with large single (or cup-shaped) combs
are more prone to frostbites than the rose-combed breeds or the ones
with feathery bonnets, like Appenzellers, Sultans, etc.

> I have a
> heated water dish inside, though. It's on a timer that heats it
> during the day.
>

Great! I forgot to mention that, and of course it is very important.

What breed of chickens do you keep?

Nuele (D)

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