dirty beaks/combs on RIR hens...advice please

[Mass Mike]

hey all. so, I've noticed that on many of my RIR hens, their beaks are always dirty...and their combs have what i'll describe as a very dark brown crust on areas of them. I'm not sure if it's just caked on dirt or what. I tried to scratch it off one of them but she wasn't too happy about the inspection so I just left it at that. Their behaviors seem normal and they are laying on the regular...eating well...roosting normally....they are out in the yard a bit and are always scratching in the gardens and compost bins. We keep their coop clean (pine shavings in the coop, sand floor in the run which we hose off or rake out regularly).

without seeing a photo of them, is anyone able to lend any advice as to what I should do, if anything, about this?

Thanks, all.

 

[Den in Penn]

Try wiping the combs with a wet towel. Have they been getting any thing messy to eat? Further than that with out a picture I won't go.

 

[Mass Mike]

followup....
o.k. so, I more or less made myself sick this afternoon reading up on every poultry disease that could make the hens have black spots on their crops (not to mention grossing myself out with google images of the stuff). I ended up doing an Extreme Makeover Poultry Edition. I went out there with a pail of warm water, some antibacterial soap, and a washcloth. The good news is that it was just dried/caked dirt from them forraging. Now I've got the 7 prettiest girls at the dance, with the cleanest beaks and combs I could ask for. Thanks BYC for setting me at ease....in reading through some previous posts about this type of thing, it helped me to take care of business tonight. This site is an amazing resource. Me and my girls are very grateful. Egg On!