Hen with very pale comb for months

[cephalophile]

Hi all!

I have an austrawhite hen, Rita (about 2 years old), that went into molt in late June/early July and hasn’t seemed to recover since. I thought this was an odd time to molt (we live in NC, USA), but sometimes the girls go through it early.

I always expect them to get pale when they molt but… it’s now January and she’s still extremely pale. All of the other hens are fine, no similar symptoms. Other than being pale, and a touch lethargic, she’s been acting okay. I know chickens are great at hiding illness though, so to be on the safe side I inspected her, some other hens, and the coop for mites and didn’t find anything. We also dewormed the flock per usual for our annual preventative over the holidays (3mL 10% Fenbendazole suspension per gallon of water for 5 days).

I wish I could say whether she had laid an egg or not but we have 15 hens in this flock and about half of them all lay the same color, lol. I doubt it though. Same goes for poop - I haven’t been able to catch her in the act yet but I’ll keep my eyes peeled. I have looked through a bunch of droppings in the coop/run and haven’t seen any obvious signs of parasites.

I’m worried about anemia, but as far as I know Fenbendazole treats almost all worms except tape. Is it likely to be tapeworm? If so, is it more likely it’s just her? Or others in the flock too? Should I treat just her or deworm the whole flock with a tape worm effective dewormer? Vitamin K deficiency?

They receive a mix of Dumor layer pellets and Nutrena All-Flock with free access to grit and crushed oyster shells. We swap out the all-flock for feather fixer when the majority are in molt. I also have Poultry Cell, Nutridrench, VitB Complex injectable, and Flock 911 on hand.

Anyways, attaching a few photos:

Pre-molt (sorry for potato quality, I had to crop and zoom):

Post molt (just took this today):

 

[LoveMyPeepers]

I think she is completely fine. She could be sick, but my guess is she just isn't laying right now. When hens don't lay their combs get pale, and when they are laying their combs are redder. Sometimes it it hard to tell, but this can be a good indicator if a hen is laying or not. As chickens generally stop or slow down on laying during their molt, she just probably hasn't started laying again. From watching my hens, it seems that the older they are the longer it takes them to start laying again, and some of mine also stop laying completely during the winter as well. I'd say just keep watching for abnormal behavior but I think she is probably fine.

 

[NatJ]

I wish I could say whether she had laid an egg or not but we have 15 hens in this flock and about half of them all lay the same color, lol. I doubt it though.

You could try this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

It can help if you check a few that you know if they are laying or not, and after that it's easier to recognize what you are seeing/feeling on the others. A hen with a big red comb is probably laying eggs. If you have a rooster, he's definitely not laying eggs, so his butt is a good example of what you would find on a hen that is not laying.

 

[cephalophile]

I think she is completely fine. She could be sick, but my guess is she just isn't laying right now. When hens don't lay their combs get pale, and when they are laying their combs are redder. Sometimes it it hard to tell, but this can be a good indicator if a hen is laying or not. As chickens generally stop or slow down on laying during their molt, she just probably hasn't started laying again. From watching my hens, it seems that the older they are the longer it takes them to start laying again, and some of mine also stop laying completely during the winter as well. I'd say just keep watching for abnormal behavior but I think she is probably fine.

Thanks! I did read this and she did have a particularly terrible molt, I just thought 6 months was an awfully long time for her to stop laying (especially when everyone else resumed). I will keep watching for odd behavior.

 

[cephalophile]

You could try this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

It can help if you check a few that you know if they are laying or not, and after that it's easier to recognize what you are seeing/feeling on the others. A hen with a big red comb is probably laying eggs. If you have a rooster, he's definitely not laying eggs, so his butt is a good example of what you would find on a hen that is not laying.

Oh boy is my rooster in for a treat later! Lol

I very much doubt she is laying but we did have a weird egg the other day - wrinkles and kind of flat on one side. I will double check her. Thank you!