Pale combed hen?

[foxy2320]

One of my blue laced red wyandottes came in last night with a really pale comb. We had a few frosty nights last week (I accidentally left the coop side door open, but it wasn't super cold), but it's been warm and off and on rainy since then. Everything looked fine on everyone up until last night, and one of the girls now has a weird pale comb. She's eating, drinking, foraging, and acting otherwise perfectly normal. Is this anything to worry about?

 

[Phoenix Chicken]

One of my blue laced red wyandottes came in last night with a really pale comb. We had a few frosty nights last week (I accidentally left the coop side door open, but it wasn't super cold), but it's been warm and off and on rainy since then. Everything looked fine on everyone up until last night, and one of the girls now has a weird pale comb. She's eating, drinking, foraging, and acting otherwise perfectly normal. Is this anything to worry about?

Put some vasaline on her comb each night on the roost.

 

[dawg53]

Visually inspect her for lice/mites. If you dont see any and she's eating/drinking normally...I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[foxy2320]

What's the easiest way to inspect for lice or mites? She wouldn't even let me get close enough to take a picture, so I'm not sure that she would let me inspect her!

 

[dawg53]

What's the easiest way to inspect for lice or mites? She wouldn't even let me get close enough to take a picture, so I'm not sure that she would let me inspect her!

Your going to have to catch her. Then look at her vent area for clusters of lice eggs or lice crawling around. Lice are whitish in color and are fast movers. Mites look like pepper and are slow movers or dont move at all, they are too busy sucking blood. Both lice and mites prefer the warm/moist vent area of the chicken, but can be found just about anywhere if there's an infestation.

 

[foxy2320]

I checked the girls I could catch and didn't see anything, and they're all in pretty tight quarters. I'll see if I can get to her tomorrow. She's acting completely normal. Eating, drinking, foraging, running, flapping, etc. At first I thought she got into something white, which still could be the case, but I'll keep an eye on her and try to check her regardless.