# Chick with comb turning black and swollen foot.



## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

Hello, I have a 3/4 week old Icelandic chick that is acting active and normal, but part of its comb is turning black. Also, there are nasty, swollen spots on the top of the foot and leg, which almost looks like it may be an infected scratch.

The chicks are in a large, metal water tank with wood chips, plain water, and 22% protein crumbles, and no treats yet. There is still a heat lamp, but I have raised it up higher. None of the other chicks have any issues.

Any ideas on what it could be and what I should do? Tomorrow is Monday, and I was going to the vet to see if they have any ideas. Thanks!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

The comb might be from an injury. Hard to say because of the angle. 

The foot is concerning. It could be a staph infection. Try soaking it in Epsom salts and then see if you can squeeze any pus out of the sores. Slap antibiotic ointment on it and wrap the foot with vet wrap/ Dang it, now I can't remember what the human form of the wrap is called. Coban, it's called Coban. 

The most important part is getting all of the pus out. It might be worth it to do a 50/50 mix of peroxide and water in a syringe and flush the wounds out.


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## Poultry Judge (Jul 15, 2020)

What Robin said, and it will require multiple foot soaks.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Are mosquitos biting your chicks? It almost looks like fowl pox.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I thought the same thing but the angle wasn't right for me to commit to it. You've got a better eye for fowl pox, dawg, than I do anyway.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

robin416 said:


> I thought the same thing but the angle wasn't right for me to commit to it. You've got a better eye for fowl pox, dawg, than I do anyway.


 A lot of folks dont know that fowl pox can cause pustules on legs/feet. I've dealt with fowl pox, not fun.


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

Thanks for the suggestions! ☺

Here is another picture of the comb. My kids were wondering if maybe it flew up and burned the comb on the heat lamp? Originally I did look at pictures of the pox, and it kind of looked like that, but not really. The entire tips are shrunk and blackened.

We don’t have any mosquitoes because it is still cold at night. We have only had a few nights above freezing.

The swelling on the foot went down a lot. I have soaked it twice, and applied high quality manuka honey. I also put vitamin C powder in the water.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I really don't know what that is. It almost looks like frost bite.


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

robin416 said:


> I really don't know what that is. It almost looks like frost bite.


It was weird. But everything healed up and chick has been integrated back with its buddies successfully.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Did that black point fall off?


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Did that black point fall off?


Yes


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That was frostbite then. How in the heck did it get frostbite?


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

robin416 said:


> That was frostbite then. How in the heck did it get frostbite?


There is absolutely no way it could have gotten frostbite. It was in a wire mesh covered metal stock tank in the garage with a heat lamp. The temp near the heat lamp was probably around 80-85 degrees back at that point.

And our garage is insulated. It hasn’t been below freezing in there for months.

The turkey poults would have died long before any of them could have gotten frostbite.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Did you mention at one point that he might have hit the heat lamp or was that someone else?


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Did you mention at one point that he might have hit the heat lamp or was that someone else?


Yeah, one of my sons suggested that and it is the only thing that makes sense at this point, especially considering how flighty Icelandic chicks can be. If it did that, it may also explain the foot injury. It probably freaked out and got scratched somehow. I think if it had something contagious, the other chicks would have caught it. I searched for other instances of getting burnt in a heat lamp, but couldn’t find much.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I never even considered it being contagious or I would have said something. It looked purely like it was just that one peep that got itself into trouble. 

I wonder if this is going to be your trouble finder in the flock.


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## ChickenMom24 (Feb 14, 2021)

robin416 said:


> I never even considered it being contagious or I would have said something. It looked purely like it was just that one peep that got itself into trouble.
> 
> I wonder if this is going to be your trouble finder in the flock.


All these Icelandic chicks seem like trouble finders! 😬

I just isolated the chick out of precaution and so it could have peace to rest.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

This is going to be fun if they're that nutty already. I can't wait to see what they look like all grown up.


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