Please help, very dark comb and bloating/weight gain

Please, I hope someone knows what this is. I have read other posts on here and other forums, and symptoms are pretty much identical but no one ever seemed to figure out what it was!

Doodle is our 6 year old mixed breed rooster. He has been fine up til about 5 days ago, crowing, fighting, chasing hens, running around. Suddenly, he developed a very dark maroon comb, and wattles, became lethargic and weak and has begun gaining weight rapidly. Almost like bloating, very solid swelling, maybe fluid? From below his crop into his breast area and body cavity. We have been treating him for canker as someone suggested that he could have canker in his GI tract where we could not see it...and it has seemed to help a bit, the canker tablets have, but not much. He has good days and bad. Some days he is very weak and lethargic and can barely eat, and other days he is begging for food and seems much better! He is still strong enough to walk pretty well, and can jump up on things, and fly a bit. He does not have a lice infestation, but he does have some, but he has been dusting himself and so I have left him alone as far as that goes. I have noticed that yogurt and/ or ACV seem to make him a bit better, but it might be just a coincidence, I just can't tell! One person whose thread I read said that they had more than one chicken with this condition, which makes me wonder....could it be contagious. It does not seem to be at this point. In all the threads I could find, no one could figure out what this was, and the birds died. Can someone please help me? Doodle is very tame and my personal pet rooster. I will be lost if he goes.....

Hi Molly, So sorry to hear about Tweety and now Doodle! My heart breaks for you. I know exactly how you feel. When my Little Baby (cockerel) got sick, his face and waddles swelled up too and turned dark also. He got a respiratory infection and his nose was constantly stopped up and I had to clean it out so he could breathe. Sounds like Doodle doesn't have that part of the problem, but anyway, the way I got Little Baby back on his feet was to give him yogurt in a syringe without needle, a little bit at a time, alternating with his medicine which was, I think, Cephelexin (?spell?) mixed with electrolyte water. I would alternate back and forth, feeding him the yogurt a little then giving him some of the water to help wash it down. At first, he didn't eat a whole lot of it, but got him to take more and more over time. It took a long time though to get him to where he could eat on his own and get better. I also put VetRx on his head, under his wings some, and on his beak where he could smell it. I also had the vaporizer with the VetRx in the little medicine cup, and let it run all night long beside his cage. I kept him very warm, as I was told that that is one of the most important things when they are sick at any time, that they get cold easily and when they are weak it helps them to get well if you keep them very warm. He also had a fever too. I could tell by how hot he was. Some said it was MG, some said maybe just respiratory infection. I still don't know for sure what it was, but it took a long time with babying and petting him several times a day and keeping him medicated and fed, even if it was just a little, for him to get better. He is today alive and doing fine and is no longer a cockerel, but a real rooster! Go with your instincts, some said don't give the yogurt when they have respiratory, and some said that it would help the good bacteria to grow and help to fight off the infection. I know that it works in people. Growing the good bacteria will fight off the bad. It sounds similar to what Little Baby had in a way except for the runny nose and stuff. It came on mine really quickly too. He was one day playing and acting normal and the next day just standing in the yard, wouldn't eat or hardly move, very weak. That Cephelexin works wonders if you have any. I would try some of that. I don't remember what the dosage was. Can you call Peter and ask him about it?
Let me know what happens and the developments, and what Peter said. So sorry about your babies! I will be praying for you and them!

Hi Jonda

Thanks for responding. Doodle doesn't have any respiratory symptoms. He is gaining weight and I believe he is accumulating fluid in his body cavity and breast. Peter thinks it is probaby ascites (heart failure) and I am thinking probably the same. He is 6 years old. I guess I could try antibiiotics, but I haven't felt like he has an infection, really. His legs were hot the other day when I got him out of his pen, but it was a very hot day that day, too. He does seem to respond a little bit to the yogurt, I have been giving him that every other day. But I can't tell if it's that he is responding to, or if it's just coincidental. I can see where LB would have a dark comb, because of the respiratory infection he wouldn't be getting much oxygen. Anyway, we gave Doodle yogurt again this morning. I don't know if antibiotics would help, I have cephalexin, though I always thought that was more for injuries, that type of thing. I have some others as well. If no one else responds, I will see what Peter says about antibiotics, I guess, but so far he hasn't recommended that. We have been trying to make sure he gets exercise every day, to help combat the build up of fluid, and he does seem to enjoy being able to get out and walk around. His droppings are normal and other than the weakness, and purple comb, and a tendency to act exhausted, he really has no other symptoms. I just noticed these other posts on BYC where people had the exact same symptoms, but no one ever said they figured out a cure, or what it really was.

Tweety's symptoms ware totally different, so I don't believe they have the same problem.

It does sound like it may be heart related but it could be related to several different possibilities. Ascites, fluid buildup in the body cavities, can be a result of heart/circulatory problems or the other way around, the fluid build up can cause heart/circulatory problems just due to the fluid congestion and the body's inability to circulate blood and oxygen effeciently and to get rid of excess fluids. It can also be caused by problems or diseases in other major organs or by cancers/tumors. Without being able to see inside there's really no way to tell exactly what the cause is but unfortunately the outlook is poor. Antibiotic's are unlikely to help but in situations like this you have nothing to loose in trying.

I would be cautious in making this bird exercise as his heart just may not be able to handle it. Just let him move about as he wants to and feels able to.

I would guess congestive heart failure. Six years is a pretty ripe old age for some breeds of chicken. The color of the comb indicates a sluggish blood flow and reduced oxygen, it may turn blueish to indicate a worsening condition, or perhaps purplish. The fluid retention supports CHF. You can put antibiotic in his water if it makes you feel better. Keep giving him foods that he likes, because getting water and fluid into him is always helpful. I hate to indicate that you may want to prepare yourself for the worst, but if he's a beloved pet, you may want to steel yourself against his possible loss soon. Give him an extra pet or ten each day.

I've been prepared for that, I thought it was heart related from the beginning of his symptoms. Of all the chickens we have had, he is one of the top ones we won't forget. He is so spoiled.
He follows me begging to be picked up. and he will sit on my arm and crow. He was around when our kids were still living at home, they all love him, too. WE have been very careful not to stress him, but he wants to be with the flock so we take him out on supervised free time every day, where he can mingle with them, dust bathe in their communal bath, or do whatever he likes, but he has our protection as far as any other roos bothering him. He hates confinement...seriously hates it...so I want to give him as much freedom as I can, as it is less stressful for him. I will have to find the pic of him sitting on my arm crowing. He is very unusual, white with bright chestnut epaulets, and he has passed on this coloring to his offspring, but this year his epaulets are faded...another indicator that maybe he is getting past his prime.


This is a picture of him with his girlfriend Izzy Lou, from last year. He's finding her a goodie.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. I was hoping that this was something curable...and maybe he will last awhile longer...but we will enjoy him for the rest of the time he's here.

I just read something about some breeders treating their birds with CoQ10 for this condition, and it seems to work. 30 mg a day seems like a lot, for a chicken. That's what it said they were using though. Anyone have any experience with this, or thoughts? I might have to try it if I can figure the dose. It is also helpful in the event of cancer. It seems it might be more helpful than antibiotics....