[b]HELP Rooster with Burnt Comb? Images posted[/b]

[Haazegirl]

Our rooster Wyatt looks awful! His comb is all black on top, and there seems to be blood on his neck feathers! He was just fine yesterday, and looks like hell today! In the early spring we noticed some black spots on their combs, and they appeared to be missing little nodules wherever the spot was, so I chalked it up to frostbite. The spots went away over time and you couldn't tell anything happened. Beautiful red rose combs for a Dominique roo.

Until today! It looks really burnt!! My husband looked at him for a while and the only thing he can think of is that he went under the car and burnt his comb on the catalytic converter. They all like to go under vehicles around here and hide in the shade for a while. But the last 3 days were the first really hot days of the year. Could this have happened, have any of you had this happen?? I will take some pictures and figure out how to post them in a little while.

 

[Haazegirl]

What's wrong with him, it happened so fast! He was fine before!!

Hope that works...

 

[ADozenGirlz]

OMG! I hope it's not a burn, you'd think that'd be painful. Is he acting normally otherwise? I'm really not experienced enough to know whether that could possibly be an infectious or other type of condition, but my instinct is to suggest that it could be. Did you do a search on comb diseases (fowl pox?)? Maybe that would help?
I'm sorry I can't be of any real help, but at least this will get you a bump up.
Good luck. I'll be watching to see what else is suggested.

I just looked up fowl pox again here: http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1484 It doesn't sound like that from what you described. Was the black just not there one day and appeared the next?

 

[Haazegirl]

Thanks, I guess it's key to stay on top of this thing! Does anyone else know if this could be pox or something else? I have no idea what to do, he is acting normally for the most part. Wyatt is being a little more timid than usual and is hiding or keeping his distance a little more than usual. I'm thinking about putting iodine on, but he may hate us for it. After butchering our extra roosters (including the mean one) we finally have a rooster that doesn't attack us! I don't want him to start now!

 

[FrizzlesRule]

Did he get bit? His comb looks like dried blood.

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Goodness, poor fella! And you say his comb didn't look like this at all yesterday? Yikes! Have you tried to very gently cleanse the area to see what's going on underneath?

 

[nelgkel]

OUCH! I have no clue what it is, but I sure hope he gets better! He is beautiful!

 

[DTRM30]

If it is a burn, burns are highly suseptible to infection. Watch it very carefully.

 

[vfem]

I think you should dab it with some moist paper towels and see if its dried blood from a fight first and then go from there.

 

[Haazegirl]

My husband and I are joking around, but I did see Wyatt chase his favorite (and sore) hen under the car to try to mate yesterday! We may try to rinse his comb a bit, he'll hate us. I'm just worried that by rinsing it, it would become infected. Once an injury is scabbed over or covered isn't it better to just leave it alone? Another thought we had was to use the iodine on his comb, either with the dropper bottle or spray bottle. Maybe the iodine could wash some of the stuff away while keeping it clean. Poor Wyatt and poor hen. The new batch of chicks are growing fast now, when they are all integrated together things should be easier. We've let the door open for the chicks, but they only venture out about 8 feet past the door. And only for half days. Could those little peeps have gotten him? Maybe he was his foolish self and stayed out in the rain too long so that we can see what's going on in the morning! Good night and thanks for all your thoughts! I'll be checking up in the morning!