Barred Rock has pale comb and seems tired, what is going on?

[The Chicken Fan]

Right now we are experiencing a big rainstorm. I got home and counted all my girls and noticed one missing. I found her under the coop all by herself. She got up and I picked her up and noticed her comb is pale. She also seems tired. Is it just the weather affecting her? Before I left today she seemed fine. Was full of life and her comb was red and beautiful. She also laid one of her normal eggs today. She is 7 1/2 months.

 

[Bonz]

Chickens hide illnesses really well, preditor pray thing. So when they do show it it may be a suprise. If she doesn't return to normal by tomorrow start her on a general antibiotic added to her water and some high protien foods, scrambled eggs and etc. I find once I notice an illness the faster I treat it the better.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Thank you! Hopefully she'll be back to herself by tomorrow.

 

[aart]

I'd want to know why she was under the coop instead of in on the roosts...before reacting with a 'general antibiotic'.
Combs can pale and brighten with relaxation and exertion normally without it being a sign of illness.

Close observation of her behavior, and the flocks behavior, for a few days would be a good thing to do.

Check her body over for injury, pests...parting feathers down to the skin all over to take a good look.
Make sure she's eating, drinking and pooping OK.

Is she the low hen in the pecking order?
Is there plenty of room on the roost for her?
Sometimes pecking orders can change and roosting time is often rumble time,
even in a generally harmonious flock, so some 'extra' roost length to get settled helps.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

I'd want to know why she was under the coop instead of in on the roosts...before reacting with a 'general antibiotic'.
Combs can pale and brighten with relaxation and exertion normally without it being a sign of illness.

Close observation of her behavior, and the flocks behavior, for a few days would be a good thing to do.

Check her body over for injury, pests...parting feathers down to the skin all over to take a good look.
Make sure she's eating, drinking and pooping OK.

Is she the low hen in the pecking order?
Is there plenty of room on the roost for her?
Sometimes pecking orders can change and roosting time is often rumble time,
even in a generally harmonious flock, so some 'extra' roost length to get settled helps.

We're having windy and rainy weather right now. She stayed under the coop until the other girls started going to bed. She slept on the roost with all the others. She drank this morning and ate like crazy when I gave the girls some scrambled eggs and plain yogurt. She seems more energized today, her comb isn't as pale as it was, but still is. She's pooping fine from what I can tell. She pooped when I was out there so I looked at it. I found a little dot of red, so I'm praying that that was just intestinal lining. As for pecking order she's in the middle. Never seen her getting bullied.

 

[BantyChooks]

definitivly check for mites and lice- my bantam hen had those exact same symptoms word-for-word, turns out she had red mites and poultry like which I just got in from dusting them. Check very carefully, lice are sneaky little boogers and It took me 10 tries to find anything.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

definitivly check for mites and lice- my bantam hen had those exact same symptoms word-for-word, turns out she had red mites and poultry like which I just got in from dusting them. Check very carefully, lice are sneaky little boogers and It took me 10 tries to find anything.

This is my first time having chickens. Where's the first place I should look? Will dusting get rid of them?

 

[aart]

Quote:

........
Check her body over for injury, pests...parting feathers down to the skin all over to take a good look.
.......

Around the vent is the most common place...but under wings and around head and neck too.
Best to do well after dark to check for red mites too...and they're easier to 'catch' off the roost.

 

[BantyChooks]

For poultry lice, they congregate around the chest, just below the wings. Dustingg them with permetherin ( i'm pretty sure that's the name) is highly reccomended, and I can tell you results for me in about a week and a half.

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Thank you guys so much for the advice! It's raining really hard right now, so hopefully it will stop long enough for me to dust her and the others.