blood on egg

[rebeccalayla]

We have an 8 month old Dominique hen who has been laying for about a month with no problems. We noticed the other day that she had a lot of droppings stuck to her behind (she has a very fluffy behind!) and when we tried to clean her up we found the droppings had hardened and in the process of trying to remove them she now has a bit of a bald patch around her vent. Today she laid an egg, her usual size, and there was quite a bit of blood on it and we could see blood around her vent. Though when I checked her vent about a half hour later I didn't see any blood. She is acting normally - running around, perky, eating, drinking - so she seems fine other wise. Should I be concerned?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

First,

I would keep an eye on it. If it's not bleeding now, that's a good thing. I'm wondering if a bit of neosporin might be a good idea (the kind without pain reliever).

In the future, if you find you have a bird with hardened poo, it's a good idea to soak it in warm water, to avoid this kind of thing.