Fading comb and wattles.

[dadof4]

I have a GL Wyandotte that is sitting on five turkey eggs. This is her first go at being broody and has done it like a pro. I know it takes 28 days to incubate the poults and 21 to do chicks. I noticed today that her bright red comb, wattles and earlobes are very faded. This has just kinda happened. Today is day 21. Is this some kinda sign that she is done or is it natural?
I wonder if she will know if they are good and stay on them. I don't know if they are good or not, just assume. I have not candled them or even really looked at them since she started sitting. I know they don't stink.

 

[LynneP]

She may be starving herself. Have you provided fluids and food at the nest box?

 

[Ridgerunner]

When a chicken is laying eggs, she pulls pigments from her legs, comb, etc in a certain order. That is why a laying hen has a bright red comb. When she stops laying, such as being broody, her comb color fades. Don't worry about the color change. She's just storing up pigment so her yolks will be yellow when she starts laying again.

Editted to say I was wrong with the above post. The comb is not part of the bleaching process.

From Rimshoes Medical Page:

A white, scaly, powdery comb could be a sigh of Favus.

A comb with mottled, red and white margins could mean it was frozen

A comb with eruptions, nodules could be a sign of Fowl pox

 

[Homesteading_Bound]

So informative.... Thanks Ridgerunner

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
The comb color is not listed as changing due to the process I was thinking about so what I said as it not being a concern could easily be wrong. Here is the link to the site I was thinking about.

http://msucares.com/poultry/management/culling.html#id

And here is an excerpt from the site. The comb is not mentioned.

After the laying flock has reached peak egg production and production begins to decrease, you should occasionally check your flock for poor producing hens. These poor producers have highly pigmented (yellow) beaks and shanks.
Bleaching of Yellow Coloring
Body Part Time After First Egg
Vent 4-7 days
Eye Ring 7-10 days
Ear Lobes (white leghorn) 14-21 days
Base of Beak 4-6 weeks
Tip of Beak 6-8 weeks
Bottom of Feet 8-10 weeks
Front of Shanks 15-18 weeks
Rear of Shanks 20-24 weeks
Hock Joint about 24 weeks
As the hen produces eggs, she diverts yellow color from certain portions of her body and deposits it into the yolks of the eggs. Bleaching of various parts of the hen's body is a very good indicator of the time the hen has been in production. The loss of color is easily seen in yellow-skinned breeds such as the white leghorns and birds on diets containing sources of the coloring agents. In the white-skinned breeds the bleaching effect is less pronounced and more difficult to detect.

 

[dadof4]

She eats and drinks like a pig, though I never she her up. I knew about the body bleaching, but I wasn't aware of the comb, etc. She is still sitting today so ya'll send her some good vibes.