Help! Chicken's comb drooping and turning blue

Artemis025

In the Brooder
Aug 4, 2024
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1
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Tonight, I found my hen laying on the floor of the coop. When I picked her up, something about her feathers felt odd. I noticed her comb was drooping and turning slightly blue on the edges. Her comb felt a bit cold despite it being absolutely hot over here. She also has a poopy vent. Does anybody know what's happening to her and is there anything I can do to help?
 

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Welcome To BYC

When was her last egg?

I'd try to gently clean her up, I wouldn't soak her since she's stressed but give the vent a good cleanup.

If she's not laid an egg and should have, then get Extra Calcium into her asap. Preferably Calcium Citrate+D3, but TUMS will work. Give one tablet daily for a week.

Any lice/mites?
 
This just happened to my hen this weekend! I read online that there are a number of possible causes: https://petreader.net/understanding-dark-and-limp-chicken-combs-causes-and-solutions/
I had just a few days earlier completed a prescribed 14-day round of oral antibiotic for "bumblefoot" infection, which can spread to a chicken's bones, proving fatal. I am trying to get her back to the vet ASAP. If he is away on vacation, I will resort to treating her myself.
 
Thanks y'all for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I was too late, Wild passed away this morning. Last night, I cleaned her vent with a warm rag and she started pooping out a yellow liquid. She didn't have any lice or mites on her and I wasn't too sure if she laid an egg yesterday. I'll make sure to check my flock's combs more carefully now. Thanks y'all once again for reaching out to me.
 
Thanks y'all for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I was too late, Wild passed away this morning. Last night, I cleaned her vent with a warm rag and she started pooping out a yellow liquid. She didn't have any lice or mites on her and I wasn't too sure if she laid an egg yesterday. I'll make sure to check my flock's combs more carefully now. Thanks y'all once again for reaching out to me.
I am so sorry for your loss 😞❤️
 
Thanks y'all for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I was too late, Wild passed away this morning. Last night, I cleaned her vent with a warm rag and she started pooping out a yellow liquid. She didn't have any lice or mites on her and I wasn't too sure if she laid an egg yesterday. I'll make sure to check my flock's combs more carefully now. Thanks y'all once again for reaching out to me.
I'm sorry to hear about Wild:hugs

From her photo and your description, I would guess she was having reproductive difficulties. Which one, hard to know unless you have a necropsy through your state lab or do an informal investigation yourself.
 
Thanks y'all for taking the time to answer my questions, I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, I was too late, Wild passed away this morning. Last night, I cleaned her vent with a warm rag and she started pooping out a yellow liquid. She didn't have any lice or mites on her and I wasn't too sure if she laid an egg yesterday. I'll make sure to check my flock's combs more carefully now. Thanks y'all once again for reaching out to me.
My deepest sympathies.

I lost my first hen last year. She was my favorite pet ever and I was devastated by her decline and death. Several weeks after she passed away, I was at a homeschool cover school's high school graduation reception and I saw that one of the graduates had on her table a stone memorial to her pet chicken. The inscription read, "If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever." For me, that says it all.
 
Tonight, I found my hen laying on the floor of the coop. When I picked her up, something about her feathers felt odd. I noticed her comb was drooping and turning slightly blue on the edges. Her comb felt a bit cold despite it being absolutely hot over here. She also has a poopy vent. Does anybody know what's happening to her and is there anything I can do to help?
 

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