bloody chickens

[1shveld]

I have 12 chickens. 6 leghorns, and 6 reds. This morning I woke up to to 4 bloody leghorns. What could have happened?

 

[sourland]

sorry for the circumstances. Either there was a predator attack or for some reason they are fighting/picking at one another. How old are they, how much space do they have, have you initiated any husbandry changes recently, what are you feeding ?

 

[1shveld]

They are two years old.
There is about 400 sq ft of floor space, plus a ladder to the ground area about 8x20.
They also free range almost daily, then I shut them in at night.
No recent changes.
egg layer pellets, and some meal-worms for a treat at night.

thank you!

 

[NatJ]

Are you able to tell if there are any injuries?
Do you know whether any blood was on the reds too? (Of course, it would be less obvious on red chickens than on white ones.)

I suggest you look especially at the combs, because comb injuries can bleed a LOT. If one or more birds have injuries to their combs, and if you find no other injuries, then it's probably fine to just watch for a few days--it might be a one-time thing. (And paying extra attention means that any repeats will be noticed. You might have to fix something sharp, or separate bullies/victims.)

I once found blood splattered all around the (formerly white) walls of a large chicken coop, all the chickens acting fine: and one small scab on the comb of one rooster. I never found any other injury from that incident, did not change anything, and it never happened again.

 

[1shveld]

After two days, it appears that all is back to normal.
Thank you for calming me down!
It appears that one chicken has an a small injury on her comb, which as you stated may have been the issue with blood on the other girls. She looks OK now.

thank you again!

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I just found this thread and I'm glad everything is ok!