Is this supossed to happen? The comb on some of my hens is shrinking.

[Miss Sebright]

I don't know if this is normal in the winter or not, but on two of my hens their comb is shrinking. Please answer, I don't know what to do! They are both molting, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

 

[mypicklebird]

A not-in-lay hen's comb will shrivel (paler, smaller, may look dry). So a heavily molting bird, a broody bird, a resting for the winter bird, AND a sick bird all will have smaller combs. When they come back into lay- the comb gets larger, redder and has a waxy appearance.

 

[Miss Sebright]

Thank You!

 

[speckledhen]

Absolutely, it can be the molt. I have several with shrunken combs due to the molt.

 

[EweSheep]

Mine are too!

 

[sherry57]

Not to sabotage this thread, but I'm having the same problem. I have 7 RIRs and two of them have shriveling combs, and I haven't noticed much moulting (but I'm a newbie so I've never seen it before). I'm getting about 4 eggs a day. Is there anything I should be doing about this? Is this when I try the "burning the moult" method?

I'm in northeast GA, where I thought the cold wouldn't affect them until later.

 

[speckledhen]

No, just let them molt naturally and give them extra protein for their feather growth. The first big molt happens about 18-20 months old and that's the one that will have them losing weight and feeling poorly.

 

[Countrywife]

We arent all that cold yet, but my girls have slowed down, and yes, the combs have shrunk too. I am just letting them be, I figure if God designed them for a break, who am I to mess with that? I am not into doing anything to "force" them through a slow season, I will simply take what I can get out of the girls.

 

[claud]

Normal. You can usually tell who is laying by the redness of their combs.

 

[sherry57]

Hmmm... I just went out to look at my girls. All the other combs are nice and red. I noticed that the one with the shriveled comb has sunken eyes and her coat is darker than the others, kinda a black-red, with very black tail feathers. Her bum also has some poop on it, something I haven't seen since they were chicks. Do you guys think she's sick? Should I separate her from the others just in case?