What is wrong with his comb? PIC HEAVY!!! Update post #10

[cjeanean]

I went outside today and noticed that my roo dropped one of the points of his comb, and now the other points look like this. What is wrong??? here's a pic of the other roo in there with him, a BO, and his comb is a little dark on the tips. Also, one of my Australorps has a bald spot on her face above her eye, but I think that may be because they're all molting....Does ANYONE know what the problem is?!?!!?! They're all healthy, crowing, clucking, and I saw them mate today. Just no eggs cause of the molt....thanks!!!

BO roo....

Black Australorp, bald spot above her eye...

 

[Just-Like-Hatching]

Looks like frostbite.

 

[cjeanean]

There's no way it can be frostbite!!!! That's what I thought, too....but it's only gotten below freezing once or twice, and this started a good three weeks before that.....It just hasn't been this bad till now...I'm wondering if one of the other chickens is pulling his comb, but I wanna make sure this isn't a disease....

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Does look like frostbite. It only takes one time for a frostbite to happen. They may have gotten a drink of water before bed, making their comb wet and it happens. Roosters don't hide their heads and combs like hens do sometimes to keep them warm.

Hens bald spot looks like where the rooster has pulled out some feathers.

 

[gumpsgirl]

As soon as I saw it my thoughts were frostbite too. I really don't know what else it could be. It shows all the signs of being frostbite. Maybe it got colder than you thought one night.

 

[SterlingAcres]

It looks like frostbite. It also looks like they could be pecking each other. Some of my cockerels had tiny blood spots on them that looked like that, from yanking on each others combs.

Weirdos.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I was thinking frostbite, too. Where do they sleep?

 

[patandchickens]

If not frostbite, then by any chance do you run a heat lamp that he might have gotten burned against? Peoples' chickens do seem to do it on a regular basis, judging by posts here. Of course if you have no lamp in the coop then ignore me

Good luck,

Pat

 

[cjeanean]

I don't have a heat lamp out there, and the coldest it's gotten when he started showing signs of this is 42 F. The past two weeks or so it's gotten right about 32 at night, but he's in a coop with 40+ other chickens, and their water hasn't even frozen yet. I know it looks like frostbite, but how the heck could he have gotten it??? That hen is the only one with the bald spot, and I watched the BR in the other photos mate her while I was taking pics of his comb, so I guess it is possible he pulled some feathers out around her face. I don't know what's causing this, but I DO know he has already lost one point off his comb and it looks like he's gonna lose the rest of them....the NPIP guy is coming tomorrow morning, but I'm impatient to find out....

 

[cjeanean]

Well, for those of you who are curious, the state vet who came out today said that the black comb looks like frostbite....he said that it's possible he may just have a low cold tolerance or ended up roosting in the wrong spot one night...I still don't know how it's possible, but he wasn't worried about it, so I guess I'm not either....Thanks, everyone!!!