We have (had) a hen chicken whose comb has turned blackish and whitish and she just lays on the floor. We will probably have to put her down today (sadly did this because she looked to be suffering). This is the second hen this has happened to in the past month. Their comb turns black and they don't eat or drink, just pretty much lay in the corner day and night. I added a of pix of her. Her lower belly is full and very firm, maybe because she hasn't been pooping? The first chicken went to skin and bones. Both had the same comb discoloration. What could this be?

Now I have even more questions. 1) If there are aphids on the duckweed, and if I don't kill them, won't they just spread to other plants? 2) Can I tell if there are aphids by feeling the leaves? 3) Part of Sandy's advice was more oxygen. Given the nature of my water feature, more oxygen is one thing that I am pretty confident that it doesn't need. Overall it is about 65 feet long and has a vertical drop of about 8 ft, including two waterfalls. I haven't fertilized the water lilies in about a month. However, over the weekend the string algae grew like crazy. Doesn't that indicate that there are plenty of nutrients in the water? 4) Lefd05 mentioned a weather change. I'm in Boulder, CO. The weather has cooled off a bit. Now it is in the mid-80s to low-90s. Also, we have finally started to get some rain. I haven't checked the water temperature in a few days, however, I doubt that it has dropped more than a couple of degrees. 5) I introduced the water hyacinths 3 weeks ago. I bought them at a large, local nursery. I am suspect that they may have brought this problem with them. Sound reasonable? It sounds like I have some homework assignments. At lunchtime, I am going to look at the duckweed in the pond where I got mine originally. I want to see if its color is different from what is in my pond, or perhaps I am just imagining things. I will try to take and post photos tonight. I need to carefully inspect some of the diseased leaves. Anything else?

My sympathies! I hate those things with a passion myself, but they do have their perks. If you bury a cantaloupe rind, in a couple of days they'll migrate to it. Then you can uncover the rind and scoop out several hundred at a time--I put them in old 'disposable' aluminum roasting pan for a pair of bluebirds that are living out behind my back fence. The robins love them, too, of course, and yet there is plenty for all of them. A pair of good binoculars make it the most fun. I have some fat little birds. :)

It's called Ick and is really common to Mollies. There is drops you can get at the pet store that will take care of the problem quickly. You need to treat immediately or your fish will die.