Hens Comb Looking Weird This Morning

[autumnbee17]

So I was putting my chickens out this morning and one of my girls (I have been watching her closely lately -- she has been slowing down and having her wings down or up depends on the day) her comb was like this pale grey color. This is unique for her because normally she is a light pink color (she has a small comb so its hard to see around her fluffy checks that are covering her comb. I am a little worried because this is new to me with her. Even though I have two girls that do not even have their combs yet and they are 6 months.

The hen that is in question is 4 years old; Breed -- Easter Egger; and her egg laying was confusing because between her sister (who is also 4 years old) and her I got a total of 13 eggs.

Any ideas on what is going on?

 

[MountainWoman73]

Sounds a bit like coccidiosis. Symptoms include standing around with wings hunched, pale comb and wattles. I would treat everyone with corid, just to be safe. Good luck!

 

[autumnbee17]

Sounds a bit like coccidiosis. Symptoms include standing around with wings hunched, pale comb and wattles. I would treat everyone with corid, just to be safe. Good luck!

What medicine should I use?

 

[Wezdin]

Could you post pics of the chicken?

 

[autumnbee17]

Could you post pics of the chicken?

The last photo is of her and her sister. The hen in question is on the left.

 

[coach723]

At 4 years old there are many possibilities. She does look like she doesn't feel well. You say between 2 birds you got 13 eggs? In what time period? Do you know for sure when she last laid? Did she molt this year? How is her weight, is she eating and drinking normally?
Check her crop function, should be empty first thing in the morning before access to food and water, should fill and empty throughout the day as she eats and digests. A mushy, doughy, or hard crop could indicate a problem. Feel her abdomen below her vent and between the legs for any bloat, firm, hard, or water balloon like. Compare with others if you are not sure. What do her droppings look like? Check her over well for lice/mites, any injuries hidden in feathers, check her beak, nares and eyes for any discharge or build up. For now, I would crate her in a wire crate if possible, and in the run if possible to reduce stress, while you observe and try to figure out what's going on with her. Answers to all those questions, and any other details you come up with may help in narrowing it down.

 

[autumnbee17]

At 4 years old there are many possibilities. She does look like she doesn't feel well. You say between 2 birds you got 13 eggs? In what time period? Do you know for sure when she last laid? Did she molt this year? How is her weight, is she eating and drinking normally?
Check her crop function, should be empty first thing in the morning before access to food and water, should fill and empty throughout the day as she eats and digests. A mushy, doughy, or hard crop could indicate a problem. Feel her abdomen below her vent and between the legs for any bloat, firm, hard, or water balloon like. Compare with others if you are not sure. What do her droppings look like? Check her over well for lice/mites, any injuries hidden in feathers, check her beak, nares and eyes for any discharge or build up. For now, I would crate her in a wire crate if possible, and in the run if possible to reduce stress, while you observe and try to figure out what's going on with her. Answers to all those questions, and any other details you come up with may help in narrowing it down.

Yes I had gotten 13 eggs between them in the 4 years that I have had them (they were a little sick when I got them). The last time I got an egg from them was September 8 ( the egg was super long -- all their eggs had been like that so I assume that's how there eggs are being like). Her sister and her had terrible molts where they lost both their tail feather (her sister lost hers first -- the feathers were dead; and then she lost hers -- I know this is not a problem because I have a hen that lost all her feathers on her first molt and my rooster love the mounts her and she just got her feathers back after I was fighting with my rooster and her to get her feathers back). Her crop is empty in the morning and somewhat full at night. She has been eating and drinking every day I have watched her. (She gets really excited when I fill up their feed to the point she does not listen to me). When I went to fill their water up last night she was drinking with her head up a little bit with her month open and moving her tongue around. I checked her all over nothing is wrong she has nothing wrong with her beak, nothing is building up in her nares and eyes. The only thing that is covering her eyes is her fluff and sometimes I think its bolting what she can see but now I am thinking she is choosing what to see. She loves to talk to me whenever I am near by but this morning she was a little quiet more than normal. I checked her abdomen and it is completely empty; so I do not think she is egg bound.

She will start moving quicker if I bring mealworms or give them dirt water for them. I have one area I put the dirt water in and nothing unusual has been in the area. I tried to put her in the coop a couple days ago and she freaked out because someone else was in the coop yard with me and she did not know and she feel on top a 2inch high upside down tube. She also did get hurt a year ago from jumping down off of the porch bar that I have and she has a slight limp from that for about a week and a half. She did loss some of her balance from that incident but overall she was happy go lucky hen that she normally is. I try to keep an eye out for her as she has always been a slow chicken to move around ever since she was little. Picking her up stresses her out more than any of my other chickens do. I normally help her get to her spot for bed time (where ever she chooses in the coop); and when I let them out in the morning she is located between the water and the other door I have. She can get out of this location very easily and none of my other hens and my rooster bothers her at all.

 

[coach723]

At 4 years old, going off laying for the winter (shorter daylight hours) months is not uncommon. And if she molted, then that will also stop laying (feathers take a lot of energy and protein to grow, they can't usually do both that and make eggs). It may be a case of molt stress, sometimes molt can be very hard on them. The older they get, the longer the time off during the winter months can get, and the longer time between laying eggs can get. They gradually slow down as they age until they stop altogether at some point, if they are fortunate to live that long. Usually by 4 years old they will be resistant to any coccidia that may be around unless they become weakened by something else, or new strains are introduced by moving them to new ground or bringing in new birds. Do you have a vet that will do a fecal float test for you? That would rule out any internal parasites as being an issue. You can give her some poultry vitamins, and up the protein in her diet a bit (scrambled eggs are usually loved) to see if it helps her some. Poultry nutri drench is good for a few days, but don't give longer since it may cause diarrhea. If it's molt induced then she should perk up as that finishes, and then comb color will get better. She should pink back up when she's getting ready to lay again, if that's the issue. I would keep an eye on her, and check her droppings, just to be safe and make sure you haven't missed anything.

 

[autumnbee17]

At 4 years old, going off laying for the winter (shorter daylight hours) months is not uncommon. And if she molted, then that will also stop laying (feathers take a lot of energy and protein to grow, they can't usually do both that and make eggs). It may be a case of molt stress, sometimes molt can be very hard on them. The older they get, the longer the time off during the winter months can get, and the longer time between laying eggs can get. They gradually slow down as they age until they stop altogether at some point, if they are fortunate to live that long. Usually by 4 years old they will be resistant to any coccidia that may be around unless they become weakened by something else, or new strains are introduced by moving them to new ground or bringing in new birds. Do you have a vet that will do a fecal float test for you? That would rule out any internal parasites as being an issue. You can give her some poultry vitamins, and up the protein in her diet a bit (scrambled eggs are usually loved) to see if it helps her some. Poultry nutri drench is good for a few days, but don't give longer since it may cause diarrhea. If it's molt induced then she should perk up as that finishes, and then comb color will get better. She should pink back up when she's getting ready to lay again, if that's the issue. I would keep an eye on her, and check her droppings, just to be safe and make sure you haven't missed anything.

I will keep a close eye on her; her sister and her are my oldest hens that I have had, so I am just proud of how old they have gotten. I have a really high feed for them and I give out oatmeal with the feed that she loves. I do not know which poop is hers or one of my other chickens. I do keep a good look at her botty to make sure there is on green poop (which for me I found is when I have a huge problem going on within my coop). She has been fine since she started acting like this. Her molting does not make since to me as she does not loss any of her feathers unlike my rest of my flock (where my rooster losses feathers like he got attacked by an animal and he comes out looking perfectly fine and with more feathers). So I should not worry to much about her comb color since she was always a little light pink compared to everyone else? I do not have a vet that will check her fecal for me so I normally check to make sure there is no worms or anything in it. I have not had any problems yet with worms. I will start medicating them when I get home from work tonight.

I will try the eggs I just do not put anything other than scrambled eggs?

 

[coach723]

You can use scrambled eggs, chopped boiled egg, some canned tuna, etc. FYI oatmeal can be hard to digest, so I would be cautious with that. Mostly just use a good quality balanced feed, flock raiser is a little higher in protein and many use that instead of layer. Just provide oyster shell in another feeder all the time for those that need it, they will take what they need. I prefer doing it this way, older birds that are not laying don't need as much calcium, and roosters do not, and too much calcium can cause some birds problems down the road. Treats (everything other than feed) should not be more than 10% of the diet.
You can do a mail in version of the fecal if that's doable for you.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000J5SOZ4/?tag=backy-20
Some birds molt very softly, and it can be hard to notice at all since it's so gradual. Some birds will just have a feather explosion and big bald spots, the range of normal is very wide. And it can vary bird to bird, and year to year. If you can find pinfeathers anywhere then it's likely molt.