Pale comb - what does it mean

[casportpony]

Has he been dewormed? And did you dust him with something other than DE? Has his coop been treated for bugs? If he were mine, I would put him in a crate so I could check a 24 hour sample set of his poop.

-Kathy

 

[Fluffychicky]

Has he been dewormed? And did you dust him with something other than DE? Has his coop been treated for bugs? If he were mine, I would put him in a crate so I could check a 24 hour sample set of his poop.

-Kathy

No I have never de-wormed my chickens, and yes I dusted him with sevin dust 10 making sure to avoid his eyes and mouth. The coop litter is full of DE and just a little sevin dust. I know he doesn't have mites and my coop is parasite free as far as I can tell. I may go out and buy a de-wormer tomorrow. What would you suggest I buy and where could I buy it?

 

[casportpony]

Is he molting?

-Kathy

 

[Fluffychicky]

Is he molting?

-Kathy

I don't know he lost a lot of feathers near his tail but they got replaced by long skinny white feathers it looks like that is happening on his whole back but there are no bald spots.

 

[ten chicks]

Here is napoleon as you can see his comb and wattles have shriveled (first picture was taken 2 weeks ago the second picture was taken tonight). He has no discharge and no lice or mites (he was just dusted and thoroughly checked) and I haven't noticed any odd poops. He acts just fine, steals every bit of food he can, raises his hackles every now and then and runs a lot. I have noticed in the past week and a half he hasn't crowed (that I have noticed) and his comb has three very small scabs on them but they look like peck marks and he did recently get in a tussle with my other rooster. None of my other chickens are exhibiting any strange behaviors. I'm very worried about him, because I just don't understand what is wrong. He is growing in his adult feathers so maybe that is taking a toll? I really don't want this to be anything serious I love my babies and I work so hard to keep them in good health. Can someone help me?

Shriveled comb usually indicates that something is wrong,tricky part is to determine what. Any sign of infection in the previous small wounds to his comb? Has it been very hot and is he drinking enough water?

 

[Fluffychicky]

Shriveled comb usually indicates that something is wrong,tricky part is to determine what. Any sign of infection in the previous small wounds to his comb? Has it been very hot and is he drinking enough water?

No infection just very small black scabs and yes he acts very normal except for his oddly pale flopped comb and no crowing. I'm extremely worried you guys....

 

[casportpony]

If he were mine, I would start feeding him a 30% gamebird or turkey crumble *and* I'd de-worm him with fenbendazole 10% (Safeguard or Panacur, liquid or paste) even if he was molting and take the risk that his feathers might look funny until his next molt. You can get the wormer at most feed stores, it's in the cattle, goat and horse sections.

 

[casportpony]

Shriveled comb usually indicates that something is wrong,tricky part is to determine what. Any sign of infection in the previous small wounds to his comb? Has it been very hot and is he drinking enough water?

The comb makes me think not enough water, too.

-Kathy

 

[Fluffychicky]

I will buy the dewormer and get it in all of their systems tomorrow, how long until I should see some improvement if it is worms? Also with the water situation I have a big bowl of water on the far side of the yard a big 3 gallon waterer in the run and a gallon waterer in the coop. I'm not sure what to do if he isn't drinking properly, why wouldn't he drink water?

 

[chooks4life]

I don't think it's him not drinking enough. I had a rooster who had his throat ripped open by a fox and lost his crop in the same attack. This happened while he lived on another property I didn't visit every day because someone else was tending him; long story short, they weren't tending him like they said they were, he couldn't get water in even if there had been water to drink (the person removed all the water prior to the attack) because his throat was open and he had no crop, and over three straight days he had no water in the middle of summer. His crest did not wilt anywhere near as much as your rooster's crest has. Only the tips of the spikes were bending. That's with severe blood loss, too. (He lived and healed fine anyway).

I'm more concerned about the way his wattles are showing some purplish/greyish coloring in the later image. Unfortunately I do think something is fairly wrong with him but I don't know what. Helpful, I know. If I had to guess I'd say something may be wrong with his kidneys. He's showing dry and shrunken skin under and around his eyes and it does look like he's dehydrated but this won't be fixed by how much water he's drinking if he has something wrong with his kidneys. I would separate and observe him, as others suggested, taking note of his poops, how often he drinks, etc. There are various chemicals and plants that can cause kidney failure.

Not saying he has that for sure but something is not working for him. Best wishes and I hope someone suggests something that works.