Hens with bluish/purple comb

[Ziggy104]

I have some older red comet hens..4-5 yrs old. Recently I noticed one was very sluggish and kept slowing down till it was just lying in run. I put it down and noticed yesterday another hen that is same age was inactive. Both hens had bluish/purplish comb compared to red on other hens. The latest hen had swollen crop. When I caught her to separate from flock a large amount of fluid ran out of mouth. Any ideas as to what is going on?

 

[kelck22]

Probably old age. Purple comb usually mean liver or heart problem.

I had an old hen die that was drooling at the end.

 

[Michael Apple]

Sorry about your loss.

The hybrid production breeds don't seem to live long. 3-5 year life span is common from what I've seen. If anyone else has experienced longer life spans, let me know. You could try to pick them up a bit with some Avian super Pack in the water for a few days and see if that helps. Give them 1/4 tsp per gallon of that particular dispersable powder. So long as you don't see other symptoms like diarrhea, weakness, droopy wings, it could just be old age.