Comb turning black

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albodean

albodean

Chirping
Sep 27, 2016
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Hi all,

One of my light Sussex girls has been acting strange for the last few days or so. I had assumed she was just broody as she was staying in the nesting box on the eggs.

Now she is staying in there even when no eggs are in there and I took her out earlier and she was shivering and staying led down. Also, her comb has started to darken and she's plucking feathers from her underside. I have attached photos I took earlier.

She is about 9 months old, usually free ranges and is fed on layer feed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex
 
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Sounds like she may still be broody. Even when you take the eggs away (before they hatch), it sometimes takes them a while to snap out of it. If you can, put her in a wire cage that also has a wire bottom for a few days. If she can't regulate the heat under her, she'll give up and return to normal. I have also heard putting cold water bottles in the nesting box will work as well.
 
Victoria Nava said:
Sounds like she may still be broody. Even when you take the eggs away (before they hatch), it sometimes takes them a while to snap out of it. If you can, put her in a wire cage that also has a wire bottom for a few days. If she can't regulate the heat under her, she'll give up and return to normal. I have also heard putting cold water bottles in the nesting box will work as well.
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Thank you very much for the reply. I hope she is just broody. The eggs aren't fertile as I don't have a rooster.

It was the shivering and darkening comb that worried me, is this normal for a broody? As long as it's not harming her I don't mind her staying broody until she snaps herself out of it in her own time.

Thanks again,

Alex
 
@albodean The shivering may have happened because she got cold. She looks over all healthy to me. I've only dealt with darkening combs during the winter because of the cold and they were 10x darker than hers, so I'm not sure about that. When you take her away from where she is sitting, does she get upset with you? If she is broody, you want to stop her from sitting as soon as you can. She will sit herself to death. It will really takes a toll on their body because they usually only eat, drink and poop a couple times a day when sitting (if that). She will basically starve herself.
 
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Victoria Nava said:
@albodean The shivering may have happened because she got cold. She looks over all healthy to me. I've only dealt with darkening combs during the winter because of the cold and they were 10x darker than hers, so I'm not sure about that. When you take her away from where she is sitting, does she get upset with you? If she is broody, you want to stop her from sitting as soon as you can. She will sit herself to death. It will really takes a toll on their body because they usually only eat, drink and poop a couple times a day when sitting (if that). She will basically starve herself.
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Yeah cold wouldn't be too surprising as she's plucked all her feathers off the underside of her body!

She doesn't get upset, she just continues to sit wherever I put her, then go back to the nesting box after about 5 minutes.

Thanks for the advice, I'll make sure I keep moving her off of the nest!
 
albodean said:
Yeah cold wouldn't be too surprising as she's plucked all her feathers off the underside of her body!

She doesn't get upset, she just continues to sit wherever I put her, then go back to the nesting box after about 5 minutes.

Thanks for the advice, I'll make sure I keep moving her off of the nest!
Click to expand...


Yep,they pluck their feathers underneath to keep the eggs extra toasty. You're lucky she doesn't get upset with you. When my hen was broody, she tried to take my hand off every time I tried to get her off the nest. If you can block the nest, that may help. Chickens are very stubborn. Lol. You're welcome and good luck!
 
I've kept her locked out of her nesting box and house today so she doesn't keep going to nest. She's acting very weird, she's being very noisy, keeps flapping her wings and walks around all fluffed up. Is this normal for a broody? She is also staying away from the other 2, they were all inseparable before this.

I have attached a picture of how she's been all day, fluffed up and generally sounding distressed.

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