What is this bump on my chicken’s comb?

[chickenjenn]

I have a 5 year old hen and I just noticed this strange bump on her comb. It is discolored. She is not usually picked at (she’s typically the aggressor). We had a cold snap here about 2 weeks ago. Overall flock is in good health although we did have another hen recently pass from an unknown illness.

 

[azygous]

Need a few more angles to see what you're talking about.

Where are you located? How cold was the "cold snap"? A cold snap in eastern Canadian arctic is different than a cold snap in So. Calif.

 

[chickenjenn]

We are in Colorado. Typical highs in the mid 40s, lows in the teens and 20s. Our cold snap was high in the 20s, lows around -5.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

I suspect frost Bite. My cycens had that on their big honkin Combs sadly.

 

[kerbotx]

Wouldn't frostbite show up the morning after the cold snap, not 2 weeks later? Any chance that spot was swollen & yellow before it turned black? Dry Fowl Pox seems to be sweeping through the US right now, and my flock has it in Northeast Texas. Wet pox could explain the death of the other hen. Often with chickens, it's a process of elimination.

 

[azygous]

I also suspect it's an isolated spot of frostbite. You will know when the thing turns completely black and falls away.

Was she without cover during the below freezing episode or exposed to those low temps without any mitigating heat? Had she ever had frostbite before? A chicken is much more susceptible to frostbite after already having it.

I have a rooster that has had severe frostbite twice now, has lost most of his comb, and he has a nodule on his comb that is similar looking. The appearance of it coincided with that recent deep freeze we just had here in Colorado.

Less likely is a skin cancer lesion. If the thing persists for the next several months and doesn't resolve, you could have a vet take a biopsy and have a lab analyze it for types of poultry cancers. There is a type that affects combs and skin and is caused by the leucosis virus.