Frostbitten Rooster

We've had horrible weather this Winter. Negative 18 was our worst, that I know of. Lots of snow. Most of the chickens refusing to leave their coop ... may be cold in there, but at least there's none of that cold wet stuff!

Did you know that when a rooster gets frostbite on his comb, that it can affect his fertility? Well, our big black australorp rooster, Warf, is about to lose his comb and possibly part of his wattles. So far, his toes look good.

He had such a big beautiful comb. Can you see from the first pic? This was taken after the first big freeze, and only a tiny bit of the comb turned black.

The second pic was taken today. So sad. His comb (top of the head) is supposed to be very red so the white and black parts are frost-bitten. Same with the wattles (under the chin).

Let's hope they can regenerate themselves, and he'll look as handsome as he was. But if he loses them, we'll give him a month or so to regenerate his lost fertility function, then start collecting eggs for another hatch.

We are at this moment hatching our first batch of his "fathered" eggs, and are so impressed with how cute these little chicks are.

Go Warf!