You probably have a field guide or two ( or 12 ? ) on your bookshelf — helpful volumes that aid you in key out wildlife tracks or the nesting habits ofNorth American songbird . But your bookshelf might be lack a handy usher to help you navigate the fascinating domain of chicken combs .
Good news ! This is your prosperous day .
Practical & Pretty
When it come to chicken , comb and wattles are key ingredient of their build . A Gallus gallus relies on its comb and wattle to regulate its dead body temperature . And the combing also plays a part in establishing the pecking ordering of the flock ( truly ! ) and is also a valuable attribute for draw a match .
chicken are thought to acknowledge other members of the flock in part by their combing .
Combs are also a clue to sex . Roosters have big coxcomb that tend to be more vibrant in color , while hens have small / shorter comb that may not be as brightly colorful .
They can help determine a crybaby ’s breed , as they ’re a tell breed characteristic . And comb can even betoken potential health issues . For example , a wan combing can point anemia or parasite .
And then there ’s the aesthetic agent . It goes without saying that volaille coxcomb are preponderantly cherry . But there are exception .
Silkie chickens have combs that are a stunning mulberry colouring material . And , of course , the breathless Ayam Cemani crybaby has a jet - black comb .
Daniel Johnson
But for the most part , chicken comb are a vibrant red that is the perfect accompaniment to feathers of all pallet .
And that ’s just the beginning . With nine different types of wimp combing in a variety of soma and size , there ’s a lot to explore . rent ’s take a closer spirit .
A Comb by Any Other Name
Thesinglecomb is the most common and the most iconic of all the types of combs . That ’s why we give it top billing here .
When the average person thinks of chicken combs ( does the average somebody call back ofchicken combs ? ! ) , this is probably the character theyenvision . Daniel Johnson
The single comb features an vertical rowing of five to six jaggy detail . It ’s an optic - catching and attractive coxcomb . And it ’s regain in a blanket number of breed , include
Daniel Johnson
Flower-Named Combs
Back in the olden days , when people chose name for the different case of chicken comb , someone must have decided that it would be a majuscule idea to name some of the chicken coxcomb after flowers .
As a solution , we have the floral trio of buttercup , carnation and rose combs . Two of these — butter-flower and carnation — are rare . But rose combs are find in several strain let in
take more : These compact bantam breeds are low - impingement chicken !
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The buttercup comb characteristic distributor point , similar to the single comb flair . But unlike the single comb , the butter-flower ransack encircles the head like a crown.cainphotos/Shutterstock
Best suited for warm climates , the buttercup comb is found in only one stock : the Sicilian Buttercup .
The clove pink is also standardized to the single comb , but it adds some extra pizzazz with minuscule spiky spots at the back of the combing . It ’s sometimes love as the “ king ’s cockscomb ” and is found in the Penedesenca breed .
Paulette Johnson
Rose combs do n’t look like single comb . But they do n’t really face like roses , either . alternatively , move up combs are down to the head and quite bumpy , with an interesting spike that stick out behind the head .
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Food-Named Combs
Now , everybody knows that there ’s only one thing substantially than volaille combs named after flowers , and that ’s wimp cockscomb name after food for thought ! And that bring in us to our next trinity : pea , hemangioma simplex and walnut tree combs .
Of the three , peacombs are the most common . They have three low ridge that mount from the beak and go partway up the poulet ’s head , with the middle course being the marvelous .
chicken with pea comb are suitable for moth-eaten climates . This type of comb is found in
It ’s been say that the strawberrycomb look like a strawberry ( well , it is cerise ) , and its pear-shaped and bumpy grain is evocative of that spring fruit . Strawberry combs are found in Malays .
Walnut combs are characteristic of Silkies , Yokohamas and Russian Orloffs . And this type of comb is aptly named , because it really does resemble a walnut .
Its shape makes it a good choice for cold climates . It ’s less vulnerable to frostbite .
Read more : you may keep chickens comfortable , no matter the conditions .
Other Types
By the time the comb - naming people get around to these last two , the well of creativeness must have been running a niggling down . Our last two are cushion and V - shaped combs .
Thecushioncomb is neat , tidy and succinct without point or spikes . In fact , it look like a cushion . It ’s found in the Chantecler breed and is a suitable cockscomb for cold neighborhood .
The five - shapedcomb looks on the button as you ’d imagine a five - shaped combing would reckon . It ’s quite different in appearance than any of the other combs . Some of the breed that exhibit fivesome - shaped combs include Crèvecoeur , La Flèche , Polish , Houdan and Sultan .
This type is sometimes known as devil ’s horn or the cornet comb . Paulette Johnson
Just when you think you ’ve master all the coxcomb , earmark us to complicate things just a bit more : Some Gallus gallus breeds vaunt individual and rise combs within their populations , include Anconas , Dorkings , Leghorns , Rhode Island Reds and others .
Have playfulness as you explore the wide regalia of chicken combs and their unequalled characteristics . We hope this guide helps you on your journeying !
More Information
Climate is an important consideration when choosing a strain . The character of comb plays an important part in the breed ’s suitability for a particular surface area .
Chickens with tall combs , such as the single comb , are well suited to warm regions where frostbite is less of a concern . And conversely , chickens with combs that are close to the head , like walnut or shock , are intimately suited to colder climates because cryopathy is less likely to harm those combs .
small-scale comb are n’t wholly safe from frostbite , but they ’re less vulnerable than large comb .
you may take steps to foreclose frostbite by providing appropriate protection that is ardent , dry and well air out to belittle moisture . It ’s been enunciate that petroleum jelly can aid forbid frostbite when applied to cockscomb . This , however , may not be effective in badly dusty regions .
This article in the first place appear in the March / April 2022 publication ofChickensmagazine .
