Help with a rooster with a bleeding comb

[Badstart]

After a traumatic start with chickens in the spring we tried again and now have a stable somewhat healthy flock of Wyandottes; one rooster and 14 hens. We are north of Kingston Ontario which is a fairly mild winter area with relatively short winters but winter none the less. We started with 35 birds and I culled all the roosters saving two that I felt were breed representative in their fuller combs. Many of the roosters had just lumps for combs instead of the standard comb I'd expect to see. The combs more similar to that of the hens. During the selection of which rooster I would keep I looked for the dominate male and that was pretty evident as he'd chase off the other roosters and I rarely saw him service the hens, remaining at the top of the roosts while the last few roosters I was trying to pick from were harassing the hens a lot.

One of the harassers also had a full comb but it was blackened in spots and the hens I could see were pecking at it so I assumed the damage was from the hens. After culling all except the one dominate rooster I noticed a few days ago that its comb was now showing black spots I had not seen before. All birds have been exposed to the same conditions in the coop.

Currently I have a small chicken wire run so they can get sunlight if they choose but they rarely leave the coop to use it. I have over 300 feet of Gallagher fence during warmer months but now they are just in the coop. There are 15 birds in the newly built coop which is about 130 sq ft. I have 5 nesting boxes and 6 runs of 6 ft roost space which they all jamb together at the top rung. There is a heated water bottle, feed of course and a dust box. The coop has two doors both Dutch style so that I can open the top half of any given door for ventilation with a drop down hardware cloth screen; the doors are always closed at night as are the pop holes. If its really cold like last night the doors are closed up but there is a 1 sq ft vent at the peak of one wall to ensure ventilation. I use the deep liter method and the pine shavings appear to be dry which I turn every week or so. The walls of the coop are new board and batten 1" pine with a full shingled roof on top. We haven't lost any birds to predation nor disease so I am pleased with the set up. My only concern is this one rooster.

His comb has gone from black spots to full blown bleeding. I noticed it yesterday due to blood on the water bottle but I couldn't tell which bird it was and they all appeared fine when I watched them for a period. Just now I collected a few eggs, saw more blood on the bottle and coop walls but now I can clearly see its the rooster who's comb is bleeding. He's shaking his head quite a lot so it must be bothering him despite what I read regarding how pain resistant chickens can be.

We just started raising chickens this summer and all my reference books I checked do not mention this kind of injury. We picked Wyandottes due to what I understood was their cold resistance. I am not keen on heating the coop as its not insulated at all. I thought as long as they were dry and out of the wind they'd be fine and if it got down to -30 I could always plug in the heater lamp I have from my day old chick first attempt. I was actually using it last week as one of the hens had the runs but the feces were freezing up on her behind to the point it was the size of a soft ball. I set up an infirmary in the coop for a week. Set her up with her own feed and water that I added electrolytes too until her butt cleaned up. She appears to be fine now but a good third of her feathers were soaked in wet feces so I didn't think she'd last long in the cold like that. I disconnected the heat lamp and she's back with the flock again.

Is this rooster issue of a bleeding comb one of frost bite or is it that the hens are laying a beating on the poor guy now that he's left alone? I need this guy so I can expand our flock in the spring as I want to double the number I have at the moment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I'm all ears if you have any ideas.

 

[Badstart]

Images if its of any help to understand what I'm trying to explain:

 

[coach723]

He may have gotten his comb caught on something and torn it. They can bleed a lot, and when they shake their head it gets flung everywhere. Once it's bleeding the others are drawn to the blood and will peck it mercilessly. So you may need to separate him until you can ensure the bleeding is stopped to prevent further pecking. Corn starch can help stop the bleeding. If you have a product like blu-kote you can get, that will cover the redness and may help prevent any pecking that would reopen it. If you separate him, using a wire crate inside the coop, so he's still with and visible to the hens usually works best. Frostbite usually starts out as pale or grey parts on the tips and edges of combs and wattles, and will progress to black as the tissue dies. Frost bitten parts will eventually fall off. With adequate ventilation frostbite risk is reduced, the more moisture in the air inside the coop, the more frostbite can be a problem. Check your roof and walls in the morning to see if you have dampness/wetness/condensation. If you do then you probably need more ventilation, if it's dry you are probably ok. The moisture expelled when they breath overnight will cause this if the ventilation isn't adequate. Pictures below of some examples of frostbite.

 

[Shadrach]

I use Pine Tar for this sort of injury. It stops the bleeding and also stops the others pecking at the wound.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...s-and-injuries-with-stockholm-hoof-tar.74400/

 

[Shamo Hybrid]

Now's the time to use that unopened 1/2 gallon of Vaseline that you bought at a discount.

 

[Badstart]

Thank you all. He's bouncing back nicely. I think it may have been an injury from chicken wire and the hens went after it once the bleeding started. I realized he's not a pullet size anymore and with the added height he may have been caught on wire I had on the ceiling to prevent them from roosting up in the coop rafters. He's tall enough now if he was standing upright he could just catch that wire. I've addressed that. Boy oh boy the morning I walked in the coop and finally figured out which bird was injured it looked like someone unloaded both barrels of a sawed off side by side shot gun in there. Those combs bleed an awful lot!

 

[coach723]

So glad you figured it out and he's doing better. They can bleed a lot, I went into the coop one morning and it looked like a massacre, a bleeding comb and shaking head and it was even on the ceiling. What a mess!!