Blood on Feeder

[Freshandsalty]

The past two days I have found blood on the feeder. Quite a bit too. It's just a hanging plastic one from TSC. I thought maybe they were getting cut from the hook that hangs the feeder but I don't see any blood on it. I can't see any injuries on the chickens at all, just a few spots of blood on their feet. It looks like the blood is being smeared from their combs onto the lower area of the feeder just above where the food comes out. I don't have any clue whats going on but it's starting to worry me. Any of you had this happen before?
BTW I'm still new to chickens. I have 5 hens that are all about 35 weeks old.

 

[karimw]

Just double checking - your post says 35 weeks which is well over 2 years old, is that correct? I have seen it on my feeders/waterers before as well, but usually with younger birds that are still trying to get their pecking order figured out. A comb is an easy thing to grab when they are scuffling over the feeder. Sometimes all I can find is a black spot on the comb where it was bit.

 

[acw123]

At 9 months agree could be injuries due to pecking order disturbances or if you have a rooster he can do some damage there as well.

 

[Freshandsalty]

They are about 9 months old. I do see some black spots on a couple of their combs. Thats dried blood then? What if anything should I do about it? Should I be worried? Also, there is no rooster. I live in the suburbs so I only have hens. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[nuttyredhead]

I had this with one of my girls. Im not sure who was the culprit but i seperated her for a day or 2 to let her comb heal. After that everything was fine. Combs must bleed alot because i remember thinking it looked like alot of blood too.I think you can put bluekote ( i think that is what it is) on it to stop anyone from pecking at it. Maybe someone else will chime in if that is the right stuff to use.

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
I had blood as well , it was from the Roosters When they were young fighting but the evidence was evident from who the injuries were from and who recieved them.

 

[<3 N.C Chicken Chick <3]

The black dot is a chicken scab.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Happens occasionally in my flock to. I have 8 hens and 1 rooster. Once in a while somebody gets peeved or feels the need to remind another about pecking order. One time my boss hen got fed up with the roosters "attentions" and she pecked the you know what out of his comb! He leaves her be now!

Just keep an eye out and make sure it doesn't progress to worse pecking, they'll probably be fine.

 

[hoozieg]

@ karimw - You must be thinking 35 months instead of weeks to come up with 2 years old. 35 weeks is about 9 months old.

I've had this happen twice now and no visible damage to my hens was seen. Is there anything that I should be doing to prevent or treat this?