Hen's face changes colour

I've got a Black Rock, who normally has a pinkish face, but just lately her face has become grey. It's really weird: it can go from grey back to pink over a period of a few hours (and vice versa). Can't say I've noticed this happening to any of the other hens.

Apart from the odd face change, she seems fine - is mixing with the other hens, eating and so on. Has anyone ever come across this sort of thing before?

I have a Rhode Rock (or similar) and her face & comb vary between crimson red (like she has a had a wee dram or 2!) to pale pink. I don't know if this has got something to do with the egg laying process or perhaps fertility, but I don't think it is anything to worry about.

Does her comb change colour too?

It sounds like she's going through the Henopause and having hot flushes!      (And I'm only half joking.)

As is often the case, I have no experience of this but I do have a theory. 

The colour of a hen's face is closely related to the hormones flowing through her body.  This is why a young pullet has small, pink comb and wattles and a pale face and a hen in her 'full flush' of production has a red face and 'plump' features.

(The parallels with humans are obvious so I'm sure I don't need to spell them out.)

It sounds like your hen is having big fluctuations in the level of reproductive hormones in her body, causing big swings in her face colour.  With her laying history it sounds like she is prone to irregular hormonal swings anyway, which may be why these changes seem so dramatic.

I would suggest that there's probably nothing to worry about.  Or if there is something to worry about, there is nothing you can do!  It's possible there is something awry with her reproductive system (hens can get ovarian cysts and other things just like humans) or it's possible she has just reached 'that time in her life' when she won't lay any more.

As usual, I think the best you can do for her is to make sure her feed and housing are in the best possible condition so her general health is the best it can be.  Then wait and see if she settles down.

If you really wanted to get carried away with the human analogy you could experiment with some of the remedies used for human menopause.  I'm not suggesting hormone replacement therapy!  But there is plenty of herbal advice like evening primrose oil supplements and vitamin B supplements - none of which I have tried so I'm not recommending them!  But a balanced avian multivitamin and mineral supplement wouldn't do any harm either.