Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Chicken Encyclopedia GIVEAWAY!

2012 has been one of the warmest winters on record, but when I received my copy of The Chicken Encyclopedia the first entry I searched for was "F for Frostbite."

One would think that with unseasonably warm weather, freezing combs would be the least of my concern, especially since I purposely chose winter-hardy chicken breeds (I thought)...  The problem was that the chickens hadn't really had an opportunity to acclimate to the cold. On the one night that the temperature fell to 7°F, the girls had been foraging all day in a drizzling rain and returned to the coop that evening with their feathers soaking wet. It was this moisture, added to the freezing temperature and lack of acclimation to the cold, that increased the chance for frostbite.

Day 1--Initial stage of frostbite...

My daughter was the first to notice the change in Henrietta's comb. I knew immediately what had happened, and  according to the encyclopedia there isn't anything to do to treat frostbite. The book does list some tips to minimize the possibility of frostbite including:  reducing the humidity by removing damp liter, coating the combs with petroleum jelly, and heating the coop. I also find an entry in the book "dub," which means to surgically remove the comb. One purpose of "dubbing" is to prevent or treat frostbite in a large-comb breed. I'm definitely not ready to remove all my hens combs as a preventative measure! The good thing is that she hasn't appeared to be in any pain. She never quit eating or laying a daily egg and she's still the first to jump for a treat! She's already lost 3 tips of her large comb, but as long as she doesn't see her reflection I doubt if she cares... I still think she's beautiful--with or without a comb!

Two weeks

Here's the best part of this post:  To celebrate the release of the book, The Chicken Encyclopedia: An Illustrated Reference by Gail Damerow, Storey Publishing has generously offered to give a free book to one of my lucky readers!  For those of us who sometimes would rather thumb through a book than the Internet, I think is a great "search engine" for all chicken-related info... I enjoy how this book is arranged in an easy A to Z format, and it's full of detailed definitions, color photos, illustrations, charts, tips, etc. Once you start browsing through this book, it's hard to put it down! All you have to do is leave a comment below and I'll include you in a drawing for this book. I'll announce the winner in two weeks--so check back at my next post!

3 weeks

You'll increase your chance at winning this book by visiting each of the following sites over the next two weeks.

  1-March    Inside Storey (The tour kick-off!)
  2-March    For the Love of Chickens 
  3-March    Vintage Garden Gal     
  4-March    The Garden Roof Coop --That's me!    
  5-March    Common Weeder         
  6-March    Chickens in the Road     
  7-March    Garden Rant         
  8-March    Fresh Eggs Daily   
  9-March    My Pet Chicken Blog   
10-March    Coop Thoughts   
11-March    BoHo Farm and Home     
12-March    Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs 
13-March    A Charlotte Garden     
14-March    Farm Fresh Fun     
15-March    The HenCam         
16-March    Life on a Southern Farm     
17-March    ADozenGirlz, the Chicken Chick™    
18-March    North Coast Gardening     

More from Storey Publishing ~ click on these links:  facebook, twitter, blog
(Note: U.S. residents only. Please include your email address or another way to reach you. If a winner does not respond within 10 days, I will chose another winner.)

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