One of my approx. 9 month old sex-link (ISA Brown) pullets has her vent area feathers all yucked up with what looks like blood or bloody diarrhea. (Wet reddish-brown matter). There was also a small amount of runny poo at her vent, either green or contained poorly digested grass blades, I am embarrassingly unsure which. Her vent also seemed a bit puffy and, not sure how to describe it, enlarged or slightly-open, does that make sense? A little pinker than the other two chickens' vents, but not greatly inflamed-looking or anything like that.
(Edited to add: I went and checked her again, to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and I'd say it's almost more like dried blood than bloody diarrhea? And there was a 'booger' of what was pretty clearly just plain ol' -blood- hanging around her vent opening, which is definitely pinkish and abnormally slack and partly-open. Little tiny bit of greenish poo on vent feathers. The other two tried to avoid being caught [I'd been frisking them for mites/lice earlier today, which they did NOT enjoy, alas] but Matilda just sat there, which is not normal for her, so I think she is a little depressed.)
She doesn't seem really sick, though. Didn't see any sort of nasal discharge or etc, was pecking at her food ok. I only noticed it today; while I can't guarantee it has only appeared today, it's fairly noticeable when you Look, and I am really pretty sure I would have noticed it if it'd been that way for more than a couple days maximum. They *may* have mites, but otherwise I thought they were all pretty good 'n' healthy. Sigh.
The other 2 seem fine. They're all in a tractor together, so *are* exposed to wild bird droppings if that matters. They're eating layer crumbles plus various leftovers, mainly tomatoes. We've had a bit of a dropoff in egg production the past few weeks (like, maybe 14-17 eggs a week instead of 18-20) but had attributed this to shorter daylength and I do not honestly know who, specifically, is laying how many eggs.
What should I be doing?
Somewhat worried (edited to: DEFINITELY worried
)
Pat
(Edited to add: I went and checked her again, to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and I'd say it's almost more like dried blood than bloody diarrhea? And there was a 'booger' of what was pretty clearly just plain ol' -blood- hanging around her vent opening, which is definitely pinkish and abnormally slack and partly-open. Little tiny bit of greenish poo on vent feathers. The other two tried to avoid being caught [I'd been frisking them for mites/lice earlier today, which they did NOT enjoy, alas] but Matilda just sat there, which is not normal for her, so I think she is a little depressed.)
She doesn't seem really sick, though. Didn't see any sort of nasal discharge or etc, was pecking at her food ok. I only noticed it today; while I can't guarantee it has only appeared today, it's fairly noticeable when you Look, and I am really pretty sure I would have noticed it if it'd been that way for more than a couple days maximum. They *may* have mites, but otherwise I thought they were all pretty good 'n' healthy. Sigh.
The other 2 seem fine. They're all in a tractor together, so *are* exposed to wild bird droppings if that matters. They're eating layer crumbles plus various leftovers, mainly tomatoes. We've had a bit of a dropoff in egg production the past few weeks (like, maybe 14-17 eggs a week instead of 18-20) but had attributed this to shorter daylength and I do not honestly know who, specifically, is laying how many eggs.
What should I be doing?
Somewhat worried (edited to: DEFINITELY worried
Pat
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