Rooster Comb Issues - scabby/white

[TXRhodeIslandRed]

Hey there,

I have an approximately 20m old rhode island red rooster that we raised from a day old. He generally has a very big and beautiful red comb, however, the past 2 weeks i've noticed the comb turning slightly white and scabby, and it is flopped over a bit. Now today when i got home i see the back starting to turn a purplish color although it's very hard to see. Very worried about him but he seems to be just as energetic as ever and i do hear him crow in the mornings, he eats etc. - so nothing out of the ordinary.

Please help, I have no idea what to do! He lives with 2 chicks and is hard to catch so i'm not sure how realistic it would be to separate him from the flock for treatments.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Welcome to BYC! Does he have any mites on his face? Is it dry as it looks to be a bit dry? Can you worm him with a 1 cc dose of SafeGuard for goats which is 1 milliliter

 

[TXRhodeIslandRed]

Welcome to BYC! Does he have any mites on his face? Is it dry as it looks to be a bit dry? Can you worm him with a 1 cc dose of SafeGuard for goats which is 1 milliliter

Hey there, sorry for the ignorance but what would the mites look like? I'll try to get a good look in the morning.

Yes, it definitely looks dry - I have not grabbed him yet to feel it but it's definitely obvious at this point.

I assume this SafeGuard stuff can be purchased at like a Tractor Supply? If so, i will pick some up.

 

[coach723]

It looks more like pecking wounds (the scabs) and maybe mild favus, which is fungal. You can try using an antifugal (miconazole (Monistat), clotrimazole(Lotrimin), terbinafine(Lamisil) - all usually OTC) ointment to see if it improves. Image below of what favus can look like. If it's just pecking then some blu-kote may help. It may be just dry skin, which can look lighter, coconut oil may help. If you have more than one roo that could be a cause of pecking wounds, some hens will peck at them also. Safeguard won't treat mites, it will treat internal parasites. Mites on the face are usually scaly face mites, it doesn't really look like that to me. You can search for images of all of those for comparison.
This is a good article on mites/lice, recognizing and treating:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
Favus: