Pullet Comb Tips Discolored--Worried!!

[revolutionarygardens]

Today I noticed that the comb of one of my pullets does not look right. The tips appear to be purplish. I'm a newbie to chicken raising, but what I've gathered from my reading so far is that this could be a sign of illness. She is acting like her normal self. She first started laying about a week and a half ago, and has been laying consistently since then. In fact, she is on her nest right now. I have four pullets total (Barred Rocks), and the others look just fine. They are free range. We have been having a drastic heat wave (temps up to 114) but all birds have been real troopers through the heat. I do everything I can to keep them cool and hydrated. We've finally had a bit of rain the last two days and temps have cooled off a bit. I don't know if that matters, but I'm just trying to give a full picture of her environment. Images of her comb are below. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. This girl is a darling--great personality and the leader of the flock. I'm really worried!

 

[revolutionarygardens]

Followup: After she laid her egg and got off the nest, the purple color went away. What the what?

 

[SueMuffin]

Im not all that experienced with my chickens yet but I had a rooster who had some kind of respritory problem and his comb turned purple from lack of 02 Oxygen. Dont know why yours went away after she laid an egg.

 

[tiki244]

O my gosh she must have really been straining. Hopefully it will get easier with age. This is good information to know.

 

[revolutionarygardens]

Quote:
So are you saying that you think it was a lack of oxygen due to difficulty laying? Later in the day, the discoloration returned a little and then this morning it seems to be gone. She is still acting totally fine.

 

[tiki244]

Yes lack of oxygen. I have heard stress can cause this too. Maybe hot days, cold days, excitement, stress.

 

[revolutionarygardens]

Quote:
Thanks for the feedback. She has looked fine all day today. I'm hoping it was just a passing thing!

 

[ChickLover98]

Normally, when combs turn purple, it's either from a slight deprivation of Oxygen to the brain, which isnt really a big worry. In your case, it was probably stress-realated from her having to lay the egg. Once she laid it, her stress was relieved and she was normal again.

 

[missypebble]

One of my BO hens, who started to lay her first egg about 4 days ago also developed purple color on the tip of her comb - very much like the picture you posted here. The weather has been in the mid 100s where I live and the day that I first noticed the purple color, she was out in the backyard, trying to lay for at least 2 hours.... I'm disappointed that I couldn't manage to "train" the hens to lay their egg properly in their proper coop so this one hen looked for a spot to lay and she found one under a bush, in the backyard. I got extremely worried when I noticed she wanted to lay an egg out there, under the heat, for 2+ hours. Then later, I saw the purple tip on her comb. It stayed like that for the entire night, even while she was inside, with the temp around 80F. The next day, the purple appears again. Today, I haven't noticed it yet, but she hasn't tried to lay her egg.

She is acting normal, except she's the only one who has this gurgling sound when she breaths and I also notice foamy, watery discharge from the corner of her beak. I am not sure if these two things are related to one another?

If you find out why yours also get the purple tip comb, please post so I can learn as well.

Thanks.

 

[ChickNanny13]

This is an old post which I found while searching for an answer to the SAME ISSUE ... Comb discoloration in the mornings (not all at once) disappearing later in the day, only to reappear (sometimes) again.

I don't think it's frost bitten, the coldest it's gotten in the mornings is mid 50s, it does get chilly (wind chill) but they are not exposed to the weather, I draw all the curtains at close up. Last picture ...

Read it's oxygen, thought it was circulation ... It's chilly in the mornings but warms up by afternoon. The discoloration is usually in the mornings sometime through the day, will be keeping better observation records.

Pullets purchased at 8wk from someone that purchased from a hatchery - 4 BO, 41wks, laying since Oct '17, getting 3.5 eggs per day, no sign of illness, feeding fermented Flock Raiser w/Oyster Shells & grit in separate dishes, not free ranged, DLM flooring on dirt.
Pic 1 - BB discolored comb in the morning Jan 11, no one else had any discoloration all day. Today another story, pic taken this morning (7:15am, 62 degrees)

Pic 2 - BB, fine
Pic 3 - Caramel, slight discolored
Pic 4 - Meringue, fine (L) & Caramel (R)
Pic 5 - Lemon, slight discolored

Should I be concerned? As of tomorrow will be keep better notes as to time & occurrence of the tinge in their combs. @azygous @casportpony @Eggcessive @Ravynscroft