Bleeding combs (pics)

AlbionWood

Songster
9 Years
May 24, 2010
331
7
111
Albion, California
This wasn't a pretty sight:
58552_bloodyfeeder.jpg


It seems to be coming from the roosters' combs. See the black spots, especially the one at the tip of one point? (This is Chester, a Partidge Rock)
58552_chestercomb.jpg


Both roosters have them (an none of the hens do). Harder to see in this pic, but you can see a pink stain on his heck feathers: (This is Rexx, a Delaware)
58552_rexxcomb.jpg


Both roos appear healthy. It has not been (and never is) cold enough here to cause frostbite. They don't fight (26 hens to keep them occupied). Rexx is boss and Chester is fine with that.
Are these injuries, or some sort of treatable malady?
 
Could be fowl pox, might want to do a google search on it on the right side of this page, are you sure theres been no fighting? hows the other roo look?
 
Last edited:
Started seeing some white on the combs, and on some of the hens' as well, so I suspect favus. Got some athlete's foot cream and applied it to all the combs today. Hope it works!
 
I've never seen Chester make any attempt to fight, or even stand up to Rexx. They have it worked out between them, and with 26 hens there isn't really any competition. When Rexx approaches, Chester always gives way. So I don' t think it's fighting, although it's possible they behave differently when I'm not watching.

More likely some of the hens picking at them. I might get some pine tar or Blue-Kote and try that, if the antifungal doesn't work.
 
I think they may simply be getting their combs caught on the feeder ,as the food drops lower, when it is emptying ... (they have to stick their faces lower, catching the combs )

Try a different feeder, and Hang it , this way they won't need the bars in there to prevent it being scratched out , and the combs may heal... OR ( cut off 3 bars in a row all the way around the thing , and file them down with sandpaper, leave enough slats / whatever on there to keep the feeder intact....) instead of buyin a new one ... I did this for my ducks, as they scoop the feed up, rather than pick it out !!

The hens don't have it because Their combs aren't large enough to be injured on the feeder ...
 
Last edited:
Hello. I must say. Plastic Feeders like the one you have. Can cut a rooter's comb. We used to have one. Then when we noticed the blood. We quit using them. Then the blood & blood on the combs stoped. But. Thats all i really know...... Hope you can figure out what it is.
smile.png



-Nikky
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I got some Nu-Kote and applied it to the combs of both roosters and several of the hens. There has been no more bleeding and the combs look much better (apart from all the sulfur). I think they had a combination of injuries to the points, possibly from sharp edges on the feeder, and maybe some fungus from all the damp weather (it was basically 90%+ humidity here for almost a month). I think the injuries were getting pecked at by the hens, so they wouldn't heal; but the Nu-Stock has pine oil, so it tastes terrible and discourages pecking. It's also possible they were getting abraded by the sharp edge of a seam on the feeder (as Nikky suggests); I scraped that down with a knife and wiped off the blood, so we'll see if it reappears. So far so good.

We'll keep monitoring and see how it looks. Nu-Stock claims to work against fungal disease and ectoparasites as well as wounds, so it's useful when the diagnosis is uncertain. I was going to try Blu-Kote but the store only had it in a spray can, and I didn't want to get it in the birds' eyes.

Everybody looks healthy and happy, but they did before, too. They sure weren't happy about getting that goop on them though, I think it tickled and maybe tingled as well. You should have seen Rexx, he did the funniest mincing run, like a sitcom-stereotype gay man having a fit! But he doesn't hold a grudge and was just as friendly as ever today.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom