Hen With Tiny Black Spots on Comb

[kazhays]

This may be normal behavior, but we are leaving in 2 days for a 1.5-week vacation and want to be very sure our hens are healthy before leaving.

Chicken Breed and Age:
Plymouth Rock hen (11 months old)

Symptoms/Behavior Exhibited:
- tiny black spots on comb
- not uniform in shape
- won't come off (tried lightly scraping)
- they look like tiny scabs, one has a extremely small amount of what looks like blood next to it

Timeline:
She has had these tiny spots for at least about a week, however it could be more.

Bleeding, Injury, or Other Trauma:
No signs at all of bleeding (other than the tiny bit mentioned eariler), injury, or other trauma.

Chicken's Food and Water:
She seems to be eating and drinking as normal (eating mealworms, layer food, bird seed, grass, bugs, etc.). She also seems to have normal energy levels.

Treatment Administered So Far:
None

Please let us know what this may be caused by or if this is just a normal thing. Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looks like pecking wounds to me. I would spend so time quickly observing your birds to see if you see it going on.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I get those from time to time. I take a nice warm semisoapy (mild soap) and a wash cloth & wash them off. Sometimes I just rub gently between my fingers. It’s blood splatter or a little peck spot. Sometimes there’s squabbling between my hens and little pecks happen. Best wishes