What happened to him

[FleishyWifey]

This is our little Japanese block tail. Noticed his comb looking discolored. Should I be worried?

 

[FleishyWifey]

*black

 

[FleishyWifey]

More pictures

 

[Ebony Rose]

Your original pictures had me thinking frostbite, but the up close images look more like dry (as opposed to wet) fowl pox which is often spread by mosquitoes. Dry pox usually clears up within several weeks and there's really no medication to give them for it. It is characterized by lesions on unfeathered portions of the bird.

Mortality rate of fowl pox is said to be between 1 and 5 percent for dry pox, and substantially higher if their mucous membranes, mouth, throat or eyes become involved (wet pox).

If it is pox, you'll want to monitor eyes and nose for bubbles, wetness, mucous, swelling as these are signs of it becoming wet fowl pox which is much more dangerous to your flock.

Good news is that once your bird has overcome fowl pox, they'll never get it again.

Boost their immune system by adding a vitamin/mineral supplement to the water. I use Chick Booster (TM) by NuroVet. It contains a very long and impressive grocery list of vitamins and minerals and is specifically designed for poultry. I use 5ml per liter of water. Apparently it tastes pretty good too, as my birds prefer it over plain water. This will reduce the likelihood of secondary infections brought on by the primary infection of the pox.

I live in Panama. We have 'skeeters so big they can cart your house to the next city (haha). When my birds get the pox, I gently massage their comb and wattles (and if they're bare necked birds, then neck too) with Vaseline (petrolium jelly). My birds seem to scratch at these scabs less after I rub in the Vaseline so it must offer them some sort of relief. Less scratching reduces the likelihood of introducing bacteria into the wound causing secondary infection.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I’m thinking frostbite. What is the temperature where you are at?
The closer up pictures look like pecking scabs. Do you have a better head shot?
Do others have those scabs?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

How long has it looked like this? How old is he? What's the weather like where you are?

 

[FleishyWifey]

We got him in June. It gets down to about 20° rarely, we’re in north Texas. It’s been a few days. The rest of the flock had pox a few months ago.
if it’s frostbite, how do I solve the problem?

 

[CluckerFamily]

If it’s frostbite, the best thing to do is don’t touch it or apply anything to it. Let it take is course.
If it’s frostbite, you may have to look at your coop setup. Do you have enough ventilation, are the drafts all blocked, do you keep the waterer in the coop, and do you add heat?

 

[FleishyWifey]

If it’s frostbite, the best thing to do is don’t touch it or apply anything to it. Let it take is course.
If it’s frostbite, you may have to look at your coop setup. Do you have enough ventilation, are the drafts all blocked, do you keep the waterer in the coop, and do you add heat?

I’ll post pictures tomorrow for advice in the coop

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like pecking/fighting scabs to me. Maybe he rubbed his comb against fencing or is getting pecked by the hens. He even has a couple of scrapes/scabs on his earlobe. I see another rooster near him, possibly a little fighting. Looks like some dried blood on the back of his head under the comb - maybe got hung up in fencing...

I would observe behavior to make sure they aren't fighting. Scabs will generally heal on their own, personally I would not do anything except take a closer look at the back of his head to see if the skin is ripped.