here's one. have recently had a cold spell around here (3 degrees) and my large combed roosters (white leghorns and r.i.reds) have discolored and generally sad looking spots on the edges of their combs and wattles. have been visiting backyardchickens.com and poutryconnection.com looking for advice. there is alot of chatter about applying vasaline as a preventative but I've not seen any real advice on what happens when a comb has been bit. "raising poultry the modern way" discusses dubbing chicks via dull shears and gouts of blood ( I think not, thank you) but doesn't offer much else. have heard some say the comb falls off with little apparent discomfort while others say there is a falloff in fertility and great pain. anyone here have experience with frostbite on their chicken's combs? how did it work out? -- thanx in advance.

-- B. Lackie (cwrench@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002

Answers

don't worry about it. they'll droip off & grow back. They'll be fine

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), January 04, 2002.

I have had perhaps too many larged combed chickens lose their combs to frostbite. There did not appear to be any pain, but the backened areas did fall off, and none of my chickens ever grew anything back. the only real cure is to get chickens with rosecombs or very small combs, or move to a more temperate climate. I never noticed any loss of libido on the roosters part or not laying on the hens part. I figure it has to hurt at least a little bit. But I have had stupid chickens roosting in trees in a snow storm and could not get them out of the trees. I would never cut off a comb to prevent the problem, that sounds worse than the frostbite. One of my old White rocks had her comb almost ripped off by a 'possum, I finally caught her and snipped off the comb which was hanging by a thread. She is still laying and doing fine. chickens are pretty tough or stoic

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), January 04, 2002.

Mine have always recovered--they never got the little ridges back afterward, but they seemed fine otherwise. I wouldn't be too concerned.

-- Sharon (spangenberg@hovac.com), January 04, 2002.

thanks all. that was my gut feeling too. Laura Ingalls and Michael Landon seem to have done ok without heatlamps and vaseline and so shall we.

-- B. Lackie (cwrench@hotmail.com), January 05, 2002.