Noticed Bloody Stool Today

[CC Lefty]

While retreiving eggs this morning, I noticed two stacks of poop with blood in them.

All other poop looks normal and I'm not noticing any foul odor or strange behavior from my hens. I have 15 hens, six of which are only 12 weeks and two which are getting ready to lay (EE's around 22 weeks). My hens have free access to pasture and are usually on either Layena or Flock Raiser or some mixture of the two. I did, however, change their feeds some last week to rid my stores of a few half bags. I mixed a 25% protein super gamebird with a 16% protein turkey finisher, which they just finished. Is this definately worms or Coccis (sp?) or could it be something else? Is bloody poop ever normal? What would you do next? Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[LynneP]

Any photos of the droppings?

Might be cocci- you can get a fecal float done by bringing droppings to a vet and it might be free.

OR, might be a pullet/hen with a broken shell that nicked her vent membrane- check for signs. This can be life-threatening. Look n nest boxes for same thing...she may have been in there straining.

 

[CC Lefty]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have a photo of the stool, but it looked more like blood "on" than blood "in" the stool. I did notice a broken shelled egg in the nest box a few days ago. Again, all of the hens seem fine but I'll check for a nicked vent membrane if you can suggest how. Thanks in advance.

 

[LynneP]

Yes. you may have a hen in there who is struggling. She may have her tail down, that's a good place to begin. If you find one like that, dry heat is like with a hot water bottle often useful but occasionally you might see one requiring cleanup in a warm belly bath/thorough drying and constant checking for damage by eggshell. That's a whole other issue. Hoping you had a one-off with a hen. Oils in feed and offering wild bird suet can be good for this too, and if the hen shows any signs olf molt, extra protein.

Somtimes you may not be able to find the hen, if you're lucky the nicked membrane has healed. Or you may see dried blood in the feathers if she has not groomed yet.