Pale comb - stress related?

[Fluff Queen]

Hi everyone, don’t know if I’m being paranoid or what but the past two days I have been noticing that a few of my 8 month old pullets have paler combs than normal. They aren’t completely drained of color they just aren’t as bright as normal. One of the girls, our cream legbar, has the palest comb but it seems to change throughout the day from being brighter to light. They are all eating/drinking and acting normal aside from comb color. I was wondering if stress could be a factor as we added 7 12wk old chicks to the flock after slowly integrating them for 2 months 3 days ago. Everyone seems to be getting along for the most part but there have been a few bullies that have been very aggressive with the chicks. We also just changed their feed over the course of a week from Dumor 20% chick starter to Kalmbach 18% chick feed. Could the lower protein be the cause? Aside from their feed they get oyster shells and the occasional scratch. Everyone is laying almost every day and their crops have been full at night and empty in the morning. I live in Michigan so we are starting to get warmer weather and it has been in the 70s this past week. I have noticed that everyone including the chicks have been scratching their heads but we suspect we have MG in our flock so I just assumed that it was related to that. I did check them and the coop over for mites etc. but could not seem to find any. Is there something causing the pale combs that need attention or am I overreacting? We have been dealing with some other sick chickens so I’ve been very attentive to the others. I’ll post a pic of one of our girls’ combs below. Another odd thing is that the combs seem to change color. One of them had a very pale almost salmon colored comb but after I picked her up and sent her on her way again it brightened back up to red. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Her comb is always floppy

 

[Ajp23]

I don’t know if this is a thing but my hen’s combs change colors throughout the day and it seems to fluctuate along with their egg laying times and patterns. Are they laying?

 

[Fluff Queen]

Yes, they are all laying. Her comb seemed more pale later in the afternoon after everyone had laid but that could be a possibility.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

One of the girls, our cream legbar, has the palest comb but it seems to change throughout the day from being brighter to light.

Yes, they are all laying. Her comb seemed more pale later in the afternoon after everyone had laid but that could be a possibility.

@Ajp23 has pretty much nailed it. Combs will be paler after laying an egg.

I don’t know if this is a thing but my hen’s combs change colors throughout the day and it seems to fluctuate along with their egg laying times and patterns. Are they laying?

 

[MomJones]

I'm noticing the same thing with a few of mine as well. 9 week old buff orpington pullets here in South Carolina. They seem normal, just so pale! I've had chickens since 2016 so I'm used to watching for various problems. One thing that helps me 90% of the time is adding yogurt and ground up whole eggs (with shells) to their food. So that's my plan. Keep us posted.