health and combs

I have been reading some chicken magazines, and chicken forums, and chicken this and thats and came across this little piece of information that has me thinking..
This person was talking about the ill health of one of her birds and mentioned that the comb was not moist.
So, i am looking at my chickens and thinking that i stroke their combs, and they are never moist.
Is the moistness of the comb something else that one should be looking at....like a dogs' nose?

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thanks Tara..good links, and good laughs as well....

Tara - I read a comment similar to yours about combs on another site, and was puzzled; I'm even more so now.

I think that the condition of combs is more hormonal than nutrient-based and that a bright red, soft, moist looking (not necessarily really damp, like a dog's nose) indicates an active layer. In my experience, a bird with a drier looking, paler comb is either pre-puberty or taking a break from laying (she could be molting, or raising babies, or sick, or really old).

Yellow pigment is certainly drawn from legs for yolk colour, bu t the red of combs is just good blood flow, not really pigmentation.

Your thoughts?

ipf wrote:Tara - I read a comment similar to yours about combs on another site, and was puzzled; I'm even more so now.

I think that the condition of combs is more hormonal than nutrient-based and that a bright red, soft, moist looking (not necessarily really damp, like a dog's nose) indicates an active layer. In my experience, a bird with a drier looking, paler comb is either pre-puberty or taking a break from laying (she could be molting, or raising babies, or sick, or really old).

Yellow pigment is certainly drawn from legs for yolk colour, bu t the red of combs is just good blood flow, not really pigmentation.

Your thoughts?

That is what I have found as well ipf.

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Bigrock, I would have to say that I do not pay any attention to a bird's comb when judging its health. Changes to the comb are not glaringly obvious enough to immediately signal a health problem. MOst of us, as we trudge out and do chores in a coffee craving haze, are not judging whether our hen's comb is one shade lighter than it was yesterday. (some of us don't have the eyesight for those keen judgements anymore).

As Higgins pointed out, pigmented colour can tell you where in the lay cycle a hen is, how much she has or has not laid, if she's a good producer or stingy with the eggs. So if you are well trained in what to look for, comb condition/colour can tell you the productivity of a bird, but to me that is not the same as the health of a bird.

I look at poop. I have learned what poop is normal and what is alarming. Even some alarming stuff is normal! My nose guides me too. Hen houses have a smell, now and then there is a smell that sets you back on your heels. This is a clue! Vent gleet and coryza have a smell. And then there is the bird who is behaving different, but looking fine, or behaving oddly and looking really horrible. All these things together help me assess a problem. But unless a comb is frostbitten and black, or half torn off in a rooster fight, I honestly don't give them much thought.

ok..holy crap...and that might be my next question
thanks all- Great information again..my poor husband as i tell him yet more stuff i have learned from here..
Thanks HIggins-sorry about your dogs
I was just thinking the other day how heart broken i will be when my dogs start to age; have only ever lost one and now i have 5.
i thought as i got older i would become more stoic and instead i have turned into a bit of a baby, ah well, that is life