Comb & neck feathers

[stred1]

Hello all,
Newbie here so I hope this doesn't make you quiver with probably another recurring question. This is my first winter with my girls. I have two Barred's, an Isa and an Easter. My setup is this: built a 5' x 10' enclosed run next to the garage, partitioned a 4' x 8' corner inside the garage for a coop, and an access door leading out into the run so they can get out of the elements as needed or stay outside as desired. I live in northern IL and it has been insanely cold over the past week, -30 with wind chills. My run is currently wrapped with plastic to protect them from the winter winds and snow. It has plenty of ventilation and gets no build up of humidity. The same goes for the coop in the garage. The coop has had a heat lamp running inside lately because of the below zero temps lately. That will turned off in a day because overnight temps will be above 0 tomorrow

That being said, today while changing the bedding, I picked up my Isa and noticed that her comb is lighter in color, has black spots on it and the feathers around her neck are beginning to thin. It is only the rachis which are standing out and the vane has fallen off? Also there has been a dramatic change in color of the feathers on her head behind the comb. It has gone from a golden brown to white patches. Had to look up the anatomy of a feather so don't let this make you believe that I am somehow an expert. Her comb also appears much drier than the others.

Because I am not exactly sure what specific terms to type in for a search, I was hoping there would be some insight from the community. Might this be a product of a cold weather issue or something else?

I did bring her in the house for quite sometime just to monitor and she seems to be ok. She jumped up on the counter next to me while typing this, squatted down and closed her eyes being very content. Gave her a hand full of Oats and mealworms which she always enjoys as a snack.

 

[sourland]

Can you post a picture? Is there any possibility that she is going through a partial molt ?

 

[NatJ]

How old is she? Chicks molt quite a few times as they grow up, and mature hens typically molt in the fall or early winter. So molting might be one explanation for the change in feathers.

The black spots on the comb could be scabs (from being pecked or some other minor injury), or frostbite, or certain kinds of bugs, or even bits of dirt.

Are you able to post a photo? That should make it easier to figure out what is going on with the feathers and the comb.

 

[tlcmurphy]

The thinning and lighter color feathers on her head/neck sounds like she’s molting. Mine look like heck right now. If they aren’t laying, their combs will get much lighter and also smaller.

 

[stred1]

Can you post a picture? Is there any possibility that she is going through a partial molt ?

 

[stred1]

How old is she? Chicks molt quite a few times as they grow up, and mature hens typically molt in the fall or early winter. So molting might be one explanation for the change in feathers.

The black spots on the comb could be scabs (from being pecked or some other minor injury), or frostbite, or certain kinds of bugs, or even bits of dirt.

Are you able to post a photo? That should make it easier to figure out what is going on with the feathers and the comb.

 

[NatJ]

She is growing new feathers in her head and neck area, and has lost some old feathers.

For the old feathers, each one has some brown (especially near the tip) and some white (especially near the base.) You would normally see a lot of brown and not much white, because of the way they overlap. But when she lost some feathers, you see the white base of some feathers, and it looks like white patches. The things that look like feather shafts, or like little sticks, are new feathers that are growing in. They should get longer and fluffier pretty soon.

I'm not sure whether she's molting, or whether the other chickens have been picking out some of her feathers. But if the new feathers grow in nicely, and stay there, you do not need to worry about it. If she loses the new feathers too, that would mean you have a picking problem, and should look into ways to stop it.

For the comb, it does not look like scabs, bugs, or most other things I can think of. I suspected frostbite from your description and from the cold weather, but now I'm not sure. I would expect frostbite to be mostly on the pointy tips of the comb, but that's not where the dark patches are most concentrated in the photos. You might search for threads about frostbite, and compare pictures, to see if that might be it. If it is frostbite, there is not a whole lot you can do, except wait for damaged parts to fall off and the other parts to heal.

@Eggcessive does this look like frostbite to you? I don't have any real experience in recognizing it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She looks to be molting.
Lighter feathers on the head look normal to me.

Back few tips of comb look to have slight frostbite. I'd leave them alone, they may round off a little, but usually with minor frostbite like this you don't need to do anything.
Front of comb, it's hard to tell if it's dirt or possibly a bit of dried blood. I don't see anything too concerning. If it were me, I'd just observe and see that she's healing o.k.
Sometimes another bird might pick at a comb and make it bleed a little, but for me the way she looks, I'd let it go.

 

[stred1]

She is growing new feathers in her head and neck area, and has lost some old feathers.

For the old feathers, each one has some brown (especially near the tip) and some white (especially near the base.) You would normally see a lot of brown and not much white, because of the way they overlap. But when she lost some feathers, you see the white base of some feathers, and it looks like white patches. The things that look like feather shafts, or like little sticks, are new feathers that are growing in. They should get longer and fluffier pretty soon.

I'm not sure whether she's molting, or whether the other chickens have been picking out some of her feathers. But if the new feathers grow in nicely, and stay there, you do not need to worry about it. If she loses the new feathers too, that would mean you have a picking problem, and should look into ways to stop it.

For the comb, it does not look like scabs, bugs, or most other things I can think of. I suspected frostbite from your description and from the cold weather, but now I'm not sure. I would expect frostbite to be mostly on the pointy tips of the comb, but that's not where the dark patches are most concentrated in the photos. You might search for threads about frostbite, and compare pictures, to see if that might be it. If it is frostbite, there is not a whole lot you can do, except wait for damaged parts to fall off and the other parts to heal.

@Eggcessive does this look like frostbite to you? I don't have any real experience in recognizing it.

Thanks for the input. I've never seen the others pecking at her excessively, just the normal "chest bumps" and a peck here and there. They are are all about the same age of 8 months all seem to get along quite well. I did apply a small amount of vaseline to her comb and saddles last night just because they looked and felt so dry, but that's as far as I'll go. Temps will be warmer and humidity levels will rise while the snow melts.

 

[NatJ]

I did apply a small amount of vaseline to her comb and saddles last night just because they looked and felt so dry

Vaseline on her comb and what? I'm guessing wattles, but autocorrect or something messed it up