What's wrong with my chicken's comb

[Duckfarmer1]

Can lice cause Red's diarrhea?

Well, I’m goin* through the sam3 thing with my girls...one has a messy bumm. I’ve checks her for laying, with the lipstick, etc. could she possibly have some internal parasites? Perhaps you need to do a fecal float? Is she the only one with diarrhea?

 

[Acre4Me]

Red is 8 months old. I more or less use the ACV for algea purposes and not so much for health purposes.

ok, so not likely a molt causing any of the stated problems.

algae will become a problem with sunlight, so if the water is in a sunny spot, try to block it somehow. We had to put our water on some blocks (helps keep debris out), then propped a scrap piece of OSB up against a wall, in front of the water to shade it. in the summer our extra waterers are the plastic bell types and they will still get a bit slimy, a bit green, because theavailable light and temps are greater in the summertime. So, every few days we scrub them and do a light bleach soak then rinse. Maybe you live in a sunnier/warmer climate, so the problem is more of a year round issue. Pretty sure Flagstaff is sunny!

Also, I’m not sure how low Flagstaff gets, but if that is frostbite on her comb, it does not look very bad. In my experience, the grey area will look fine after healing, like nothing happened. Black areas will not regenerate. If the tips turn black, they will basically dry up, fall of and will heal more rounded. Don’t doctor injured skin with any kind of rubbing-it will do more damage than good.

you can add your general location to your profile, this helps

 

[Newbie18]

Well, I’m goin* through the sam3 thing with my girls...one has a messy bumm. I’ve checks her for laying, with the lipstick, etc. could she possibly have some internal parasites? Perhaps you need to do a fecal float? Is she the only one with diarrhea?

What's a fecal float?

None of the other girls have diarrhea.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We had a lice issue so we cleaned the coop and sprinkled it with food grade DE. We also treated the girls for lice too. We have a chicken bath with wood ash, DE and sand but none of the girls use it so it's pretty pointless.

Red's is isolated and her symptoms are:
*White shriveled comb
*extremely Watery Diahrea
*Sleepyhead
* lice
* Not laying eggs
*Yes she eats and drinks

Could lice cause these problems? Or is it something else?

All the other girls have blackish spots on their Combs but have no other problems except for the lice.

I agree with @dawg53 get some poultry dust and treat all the hens and your housing.

The bath with the flea shampoo likely killed most of the lice, but your housing, nesting boxes, roosting bars, etc. need to be treated too to eliminate the bugs.

Your hen's comb looks to have frostbite. You provide heat for them? How much ventilation is in your coop? Frostbite is exposure, moisture and cold - is there condensation inside your coop?

I would leave the comb alone. It depends on the extent of the frostbite, she may lose the points on her comb, they will fall off (self dub) on their own. Handling a frostbitten comb can be painful.

 

[Newbie18]

ok, so not likely a molt causing any of the stated problems.

algae will become a problem with sunlight, so if the water is in a sunny spot, try to block it somehow. We had to put our water on some blocks (helps keep debris out), then propped a scrap piece of OSB up against a wall, in front of the water to shade it. in the summer our extra waterers are the plastic bell types and they will still get a bit slimy, a bit green, because theavailable light and temps are greater in the summertime. So, every few days we scrub them and do a light bleach soak then rinse. Maybe you live in a sunnier/warmer climate, so the problem is more of a year round issue. Pretty sure Flagstaff is sunny!

Also, I’m not sure how low Flagstaff gets, but if that is frostbite on her comb, it does not look very bad. In my experience, the grey area will look fine after healing, like nothing happened. Black areas will not regenerate. If the tips turn black, they will basically dry up, fall of and will heal more rounded. Don’t doctor injured skin with any kind of rubbing-it will do more damage than good.

you can add your general location to your profile, this helps

Flagstaff is sunny all year long.

We keep the water shaded but end up using ACV to avoid constantly cleaning their waterer.

 

[Newbie18]

In all the reading I’ve been doing about frost, if that’s the issue, the comb will likely lose its points...don’t apply anything to it righ5 now, as it will make it worse, and more painful. People have posted many before and after pictures of chickens with frostbite...they did lose the tips of their combs, but it was really just an issue with looks...it did not cause long term problems...just treat the lice.like 3veryon3 is telling, but don’t apply Vaseline or anything to the comb, because it has been found to just be more painful to the chickens.

This is good to know.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

What's a fecal float?

None of the other girls have diarrhea.

A fecal float is when you collect a sample of chicken poop...but you want to ge5 fires poop from a variety of the girls. Then, hope you have a vet that can run the test to see what type of worms they might have. Chickens typically do have some kind of worms, because of the way they are living and eating in the ground, and randomly pickin* up each other’s poop. The focal float is a kit you can get on the internet...it’s like a little round container with a lid..the vet will run it through a microscope. Then you can deworm the chickens according to what they have...or do not have. It’s just a good thing to do even when the6 are not showing signs of being sick. If your local vet won5 do it..there are companies on the internet that will do it, for around..$28 ..my vet did it for $13..it just depends on where you live. After giving you dewormer you have to throw away the eggs for a certain period of time...it will say do , of which ever type you choose.

 

[Newbie18]

I agree with @dawg53 get some poultry dust and treat all the hens and your housing.

The bath with the flea shampoo likely killed most of the lice, but your housing, nesting boxes, roosting bars, etc. need to be treated too to eliminate the bugs.

Your hen's comb looks to have frostbite. You provide heat for them? How much ventilation is in your coop? Frostbite is exposure, moisture and cold - is there condensation inside your coop?

I would leave the comb alone. It depends on the extent of the frostbite, she may lose the points on her comb, they will fall off (self dub) on their own. Handling a frostbitten comb can be painful.

The coop is well ventalated. We had a few weeks were it really didn't get above freezing even during the day. We have a heat lamp but they must have gotten it during the day while they were walking around.

 

[Newbie18]

This has all been so helpful. I really appreciate your help. Please keep sending any other advice you can think of.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Could white comb be anemia?