Rooster lethargic and comb turning black

[gustishmaggi]

Our rooster appears now to be fully recovered. His comb is back to its normal redness, he is crowing again and doing all the other things he should be!

Thankyou everyone for your advice to help us get through this one, especially threehorses who was very supportive.

 

[threehorses]

That's such wonderful news, and gratefully received! Thank you for letting us know, and congrats on your good work fixing him up.

It was a pleasure to be of service.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

Wow! I had black scab looking things on my young Roo about two weeks ago, I kind of rubbed on them and some came off, like a scab, then they all went away. today I noticed on 2 more of my Roos more black spots (scabs) My 1 Roo had the most and some feathers missing from the back of his head right behind his comb. I looked all over him for any sign of mites, I did not find any thing that looked like them. His skin where the feathers were missing looked red and sore. when trying to pick him up, my young Roo chased him all over the pen, got him under one of the hutches and was beating the heck out of him. I finally got him out of there. Could the black scabs be from fighting? Only the Roosters have this. My girls just started laying eggs June 30th, I hope that this is from fighting and not some thing Major. Help anyone please, I have read the other posts and I am really scared.
I did give them some Yogurt with strawberries, for a treat, also some little cat treats I had for my cat. I sure hope that was not the problem! Willy, the boy with feathers missing also looked like his comb was torn or coming loose in the back??

 

[threehorses]

You'll probably get more answers if you start a thread as this one is pretty much resolves.

I'd say it's fighting, yes. They should either be separated or given a lot more space so that he can escape.

The torn comb - you can either dub it, or simply clean and treat it as any wound (neosporin) and let it repair. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

[tsmay26]

I have a few chicks..there beaks started with black spot right under there lil come and now it seem to be spreading. Im not sure what to do

 

[cwmhaf]

Our Cockerel has bluey/grey shading along the points of his comb, it has been like it since we bought him 4 weeks ago, he seems well, eats well and droppings are darkish ginger brown colour, he does not seem ill.Might this be something just to do with his breed, he is a 14 month old Silver Dorking?? Are they suseptible to diseases more than any other breed of chidkens?

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[nfitzgeraldRN]

Such a good and interesting thread, even though its old. Its very useful to us first timers!. I have 3 roos and 9 hens, all about 22 weeks that have been raised together. They live in a 8x8 coop with an attached 8x8 run. They free range about 3 hours a day average. While I know in my heart that all but 1 roo is going to have re-home, I have been trying to convince myself that maybe they can get along. I have seen some of the black scabs and was just coming on here to see what this could be and BAM...now I know its from fighting. I haven't personally seen any fighting, so I didn't even connect to that. After sitting out watching my chickens for about 30m, I think I may have found the source of the black scabs. To my amazement it looks as if its coming from one of my California White Leghorn hens! I saw some major stare downs and my dominant rooster kept getting in between them as if trying to separate them. Is is normal for the fighting to be between the hens? Is that just part of the pecking order or is something else going on there? While taking inventory on who has the scabs on the comb and who doesn't I found that mostly the hens had scabs, the white leghorns having the most serious. My roosters have only small minor scabs. Could the extra roos be making or causing the fighting among the hens? Any advice would be appreciated. Also the bottom picture is of my Japanese black tailed bantam roo "Romeo". If you look closely you can see the tinted blue tips on the back of his comb. From this thread I saw this could be from respiratory problems or frost bite. The temp here doesn't get below 60 degrees at night. The other funny thing is that it will be this color and then later completely red and healthy looking again. Any ideas on that?

 

[sherryberry]

Sneezing, coughing, congestion, purple or dark combs, runny nose etc. is CRD (Chronic Respiratory Disease or Airsacculitis ) It causes a hole in the air sac, and infection in the lungs and it can be fatal very quickly once the comb changes colors. Chickens breathe 9 times to our 1. I have found that the underlying causes are moist or wet rainy conditions or dusty envirements. I use 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon SpecLinx 50 to one gallon of water for 7 days minimum to 10 days maximum. I usually treat my birds 2 to 3 days before a cold rain or the first sign of a bird sneezing.

 

[Marie50106]

this happened to my rooster a couple of days ago too, he was ok walking around and looked good, and the next day he was lethargic and his comp was turning blank and when I put him under the heat lamp the next day he was still there but he was dead, my other chickens seem to be in good health for now I hope that this is not something contagious.

 

[dgriffith]

I have the same problem. Two hens now have combs turning black and falling off. I thought the rooster was pecking their heads but now I see that I have an illness or parasite problem. One was near death, heavy breathing, diarrhea, comb starting to turn black, head on the ground, can barely keep its head up, not moving. That was almost 7 days ago. I put her in the house and she survived the night. Then the next and the next and now she is able to stand again but the comb continues to turn black. The other chicken's comb is completely gone. She distances herself from the flock like she is afraid. One night I saw that she wouldn't even go into the coop. (They have a large area outside the coop to walk around, bigger than some people's entire yards) However, since then I have seen her perched inside with the others. What kind of medication should I be using. Did you ever find out any information about your chickens? Thanks
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