Comb turning from white to grey

[Glitteroid]

My 1.5 year old BR mix’s comb suddenly turned white and now it’s quickly turning grey. She’s eating and drinking fine, still is very active and cuddly, and there aren’t any signs of mites or injury. It snowed recently and was around 10 degrees for a day or two but she mostly stayed inside a warm/well-ventilated coop with six other chickens.

Her sister died from coccidiosis a couple of months ago so I don’t want to dismiss it as frostbite if it could be that again. Should I keep an eye on it or should I treat the flock with corrid? Or is there something else I should look for?

 

[ChicNmom]

Is she currently laying? My hens that are currently not laying have more pale combs. Also sometimes in winter I'll put vaseline on their combs just to keep them from getting chapped and dried out from the cold.

 

[Myrshine]

Sometimes when they’re healing from frostbite, this can happen. Her comb may also be dry from the cold dry temperatures. Their combs also change color when they’re about to lay.

 

[scarrie54]

One of mine looks like that and on close inspection I think it’s a fungus. I started putting something on it tonight that treats athletes foot.

 

[Glitteroid]

Is she currently laying? My hens that are currently not laying have more pale combs. Also sometimes in winter I'll put vaseline on their combs just to keep them from getting chapped and dried out from the cold.

She’s actually the only one out of seven that’s still lying and didn’t molt. I’ll try Vaseline, thank you!

 

[Glitteroid]

One of mine looks like that and on close inspection I think it’s a fungus. I started putting something on it tonight that treats athletes foot.

It actually does look a little like a fungus, now that I think of it. The lighter parts are a bit more raised than the rest of her comb, and she seemed to really like us massaging it so maybe that was relieving itching. I’ll run to Walgreens today and try something for athlete’s foot. Thanks!

 

[Glitteroid]

Sometimes when they’re healing from frostbite, this can happen. Her comb may also be dry from the cold dry temperatures. Their combs also change color when they’re about to lay.

My first thought was frostbite too, but it was never black or even darker red. I went out one night to give them all oatmeal and she looked normal, then the next morning it was just completely white. She’s also been laying really consistently for almost a year now.

 

[Aapomp831]

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My 1.5 year old BR mix’s comb suddenly turned white and now it’s quickly turning grey. She’s eating and drinking fine, still is very active and cuddly, and there aren’t any signs of mites or injury. It snowed recently and was around 10 degrees for a day or two but she mostly stayed inside a warm/well-ventilated coop with six other chickens.

Her sister died from coccidiosis a couple of months ago so I don’t want to dismiss it as frostbite if it could be that again. Should I keep an eye on it or should I treat the flock with corrid? Or is there something else I should look for?

Coccidiosis displays symptoms like lethargy and bloody stools (sometimes), and the combs can turn pale but I don’t think that’s what is going on. It may be frostbite, which you would need to fix the ventilation in your coop to solve that issue. Do not put Vaseline or BagBalm on the comb; that can make the issues way worse. Try not to handle or touch the comb; frostbite can be painful. If it seems to be out of control, I would bring her inside (no heat lamp necessary, just to get her out of the elements and give the comb a chance to heal. During the separation I would do a fecal float test to check for worms, and check her for mites as well. Worms can cause paw combs, and so can an overload of mites which can cause anemia and pale combs.

 

[Glitteroid]

Coccidiosis displays symptoms like lethargy and bloody stools (sometimes), and the combs can turn pale but I don’t think that’s what is going on. It may be frostbite, which you would need to fix the ventilation in your coop to solve that issue. Do not put Vaseline or BagBalm on the comb; that can make the issues way worse. Try not to handle or touch the comb; frostbite can be painful. If it seems to be out of control, I would bring her inside (no heat lamp necessary, just to get her out of the elements and give the comb a chance to heal. During the separation I would do a fecal float test to check for worms, and check her for mites as well. Worms can cause paw combs, and so can an overload of mites which can cause anemia and pale combs.

The coop is well ventilated so I don’t need to fix that. I also mentioned that I checked her for mites and that she’s not in pain. Thanks