blood clot

[Darrie]

I just went out to ck on my girls for the 4th and last time for the day and found blood in the coop. One of my younger girls had blood by her vent. I brought her inside and cleaned the area and found nothing wrong with her vent nor was their a wound of any kind. It was like she passed this blood clot and some got stuck to her feathers. Does anyone know what this is all about?

 

[Eggcessive]

It's possible that she had some blood on an egg she laid, which happens sometimes with a new layer, and nothing to worry about. The thing that I would worry about is that she may have been attacked by one of the other chickens. The vent area is a common place to peck or for feather-pickers to attack. There is also as condition called a prolapsed vent, where internal tissue of the cloaca can come outside the vent either by straining, a defect, or possibly a stuck egg. Prolapsed tissue is bright red and will attract pecking, so much that chickens will cannibalize another when this happens. Sometimes the prolapse will go in on it's own or be stuck outside. I would make sure that your chickens have plenty of room in their coop, get outside first thing in the morning to prevent boredom and pecking, and that their protein level in feed is at least 16%. Here is a link about prolapse to see what it looks like: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/prolapse-vent-causes-treatment-graphic.html

 

[Darrie]

I did ck her vent and everything looked good, The skin was a good color and I saw no wounds. I went an ck'ed on her before and I saw NO more blood. I'm praying this is a one time thing but I'll keep an eye on her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Just make sure no one is pecking the others. If so, then take that chicken out of the flock for a few days. There are anti-picking creams available, as well as bad tasting creams and ointments such as Nustock and Bag Balm that may help. Here is a picture of a bloody vent from pecking:

Photo by NIDLOO