Rooster's black spotted & sometimes bleeding comb. (pictures)

[FarmerJoe411]

now before i begin, let me first say that i searched this forum under similar posts (which there are a few) but none of them really seemed to be quite right in this circumstance. Samuel L. Jackson is a 1 yr old Andalusian who came to us with his 5 hens at the middle/end of this summer. everything seemed in order. towards the end of the summer black spots begin to appear on the tips of his comb as well as other areas on it. when he would bang his head (on the sides of their enclosure, getting to excited with the hens) it would bleed immediately. we do not have any other roosters, and our now 4 hens know there place and dare not touch him. this happened before winter and did not seem to get any worse during those cold months and is still present today (has not gotten any worse, nor better.) he is the only one in the flock who has this. the one Andalusian hen, who also has a rather large comb has no problems either. its obviously not affecting him in anyways, he is a healthy weight, gets a lot of free-range time, and is rather spunky and aggressive...but its just ugly! --- what could it be??

 

[FarmerJoe411]

????????

 

[berserker]

It look like an injury to the comb maybe a figth with another cock or laserations from the chicken wire. The black stuff is the dry blood. Just live it alone, it should fall on its own in a few days.

 

[EMarston]

My rooster has had similar issues (though not that severe) that were due to frostbite for both of his winters so far. Bleeds easily, just as you said--small amounts of blood on our feeder and on the ceiling of the hen house.

So far, it has cleared up on its own in the spring with the frostbitten parts breaking off and healing up good as new as the previous poster mentioned.

Good luck!

 

[FarmerJoe411]

he has never been with other roosters and as i said before, the hens dont dare mess with him. and those black things have been there since last summer (which was when he was born). they never change and when those spots get hit is when they bleed. and it cant be frostbite cuz they were there before winter. when you touch them they feel the same as the rest of his comb so there is no real texture difference. but i agree, the front one looks like its about to drop and fall off but its been that way and looked like that since august!

 

[patricium]

It could be fowl pox. My rooster has had that over the past six months or so, and it looks a lot like your photo, It started out as blisters, which then break, then scab over and persist for a month or so. I took him to the vet, who diagnosed it as fowl pox. She said to keep an eye on the rest of the flock, but the infection is usually pretty self-limiting, so it probably wouldn't spread. It didn't spread to the rest, but the rooster did have another outbreak later. She gave us some silver-based ointment to put on the comb while healing - just to prevent infection if it gets dirty, or if someone picks at it. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, and apparently there's a vaccination that last for 9 months or so, but they don't recommend vaccination while a bird actually has an outbreak.

 

[klmclain1]

Hmmmmmmm...very odd eh? Well, you COULD try some virgin coconut oil (cold pressed). It's anti viral, anti fungal, anti bacterial and just massage it on his comb everyday for the heck of it and see if it goes away. Won't hurt and who knows, maybe it will help!

 

[berserker]

I didnt think about the pox, however you mentioned that the rooster is preaty much healthy. In my experience I've never had an asimptomatic chicken with pox. As soon as the scabs appear on them, their health deteriorate and other simptoms show up, however, I would not descard the possibility of pox infection.

 

[FarmerJoe411]

It could be fowl pox. My rooster has had that over the past six months or so, and it looks a lot like your photo, It started out as blisters, which then break, then scab over and persist for a month or so. I took him to the vet, who diagnosed it as fowl pox. She said to keep an eye on the rest of the flock, but the infection is usually pretty self-limiting, so it probably wouldn't spread. It didn't spread to the rest, but the rooster did have another outbreak later. She gave us some silver-based ointment to put on the comb while healing - just to prevent infection if it gets dirty, or if someone picks at it. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, and apparently there's a vaccination that last for 9 months or so, but they don't recommend vaccination while a bird actually has an outbreak.

do you remember what the silver-based ointment was called? i live on the lower eastern shore of maryland and the mosquitoes are horrible so your suggestion makes perfect sense.