Bloody comb + darkened crusty comb Help!

Jamiep101

In the Brooder
Apr 23, 2021
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43
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Went out this afternoon to collect eggs, noticed immediately my youngest hen had a cut on her comb and her head was damp from the blood, then noticed it must have happened in the nest box because there is blood everywhere inside and over the egg
( possibly a fight over the nesting box?).
And noticed last week one of my other hens comb has darkened and turned kind of crust on the tip (frostbite maybe?)

Thanks
 

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Should mention that my youngest laying hen does sometimes get picked on or chased away by the highest hen in the pecking order and if she was in the nest box when the boss came to lay it’s quite possible she may have gotten cornered and pecked
 
Yes that is frostbite on the barred rock in the later pictures. The first pictures look like pecking or injury. Do you chickens have plenty of head room on the roosts at night? Make sure they have a dry coop, minimal moisture in bedding from droppings, no water spills, and have plenty of over the head ventilation to remove moisture or dampness of their breath. Even with the best of conditions, frostbite can happen with severe temps near zero. Don’t be tempted to use vaseline or other creams/ointments to prevent frostbite, since they may freeze and add to the chances.

Pecking is common when hens prefer the same nest boxes. Comb wounds bleed onto feeders, roosts, and bedding. Usually they heal without treatment.
 
Yes that is frostbite on the barred rock in the later pictures. The first pictures look like pecking or injury. Do you chickens have plenty of head room on the roosts at night? Make sure they have a dry coop, minimal moisture in bedding from droppings, no water spills, and have plenty of over the head ventilation to remove moisture or dampness of their breath. Even with the best of conditions, frostbite can happen with severe temps near zero. Don’t be tempted to use vaseline or other creams/ointments to prevent frostbite, since they may freeze and add to the chances.

Pecking is common when hens prefer the same nest boxes. Comb wounds bleed onto feeders, roosts, and bedding. Usually they heal without treatment.
Thanks
They do have lots of head room above roosts, it must have been caused by another hen. And as for the frostbite, Their coop is very dry and has ventilation at the top. I don’t even keep their waterer inside the coop for risk of it spilling

live in Nova Scotia where it will be 5 degrees Celsius one day with rain and the next it will be -20 with the wind chill the following day.
our weather is very up and down this time of year.
 
Frostbite is hard to completely prevent in larger combed birds when temps are close to zero F. Wind breaks can help outside, but keeping some overhead ventilation is needed inside. That said, many of us have seen frostbite in large combed chickens, even where I live.
 

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