hens dying, dark purple combs

[the egg lady]

In the past 6 months I have lost 5 hens (out of 30) Yesterday It dawned on me that the one thing that they had in common was a black/purple comb. They are all of a different breed. The one that died yesterday was a buff oppington whose comb starting turning dark purple months ago. I think this must be more than a coincidence. I looked at the flock this am and noticed a couple more birds i.e. a R I Red and N H Red and a black x-link. They have all acted fine right up until I found them the next am dead. Any Ideas?
Thank you.

 

[Judy]

From a quick search: The color usually indicates a reduced oxygen supply. Possible causes include heart defect, stress, other disease, heat stress. Not much information -- and not a lot you can do from that, other than common sense stuff, boost nutrition, etc. Severe cold can do this as well.

Where are you? Is it hot there?

It would help if you answered the questions posed in this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569

 

[the egg lady]

There is nothing out of the usual going on with the birds. I live in Maine and have taken care of hens for at least 45 years. Until I got a computer I never realized that there were such references available. If we had a problem that we were concerned about we just got in touch with other people that raised hens. Most of them have died off now so I'm glad that I found you people. I do things pretty much the way I've always done things. Pine shavings on floor, 2x4 roosts 6' above the floor. Chicken pellets, table scraps, nothing different, nothing unusual. The youngest bird is 3 years and the oldest would be over 10. Every year I added a new breed so in all I probably have 10 types. We havent had any heat since last august. We just got through 4 straight weeks of rain.

 

[lurky]

is it just the comb, or the wattles too?

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Well, then, your guess may be better than most of ours!

You sound like someone who could be a great resource here! So much of this stuff is individuals hunting up info on poultry diseases, or personal experience; there just isn't a lot of research on small backyard flocks. I hope you'll hang around and chime in now and then!

Maybe you just had a run of chickens whose hearts wore out, do you think? I suppose the rain could be connected; there's a disease they can get from molded leaf litter, for example, but I'm afraid that's about all I know about it.

Oh, and...

 

[barred-rocks-rock]

some combs will turn purple due to cold or frostbite.
also, they might not have enough oxygen, whic is more likely, because this isnt a coincidence