Bloody Droppings

[Mikaylajl]

Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to chicken keeping and this forum. My flock of 30 ranges from 2 weeks to 1 year of age. I noticed this afternoon that there was some very bloody what appeared to be droppings under the roost in my large coop. I've never seen anything like this and it looks very alarming. My first though is Coccidiosis which is very worrying. We just lost one of my favorite hens about 2 months ago to suspected metal toxicity (radiographs at the vet showed a piece of metal in her gizzard) so I am on edge right now when it comes to anything unusual with my flock. All my chickens and chicks appear normal - eating and drinking normally, nobody is lethargic or pale, happy as they usually are. Could there be any other cause for droppings like this? Should I rush to the farm supply store and start corid tonight or wait to see if I find anymore droppings like this?

Here are some pictures of what I found.

 

[azygous]

That is not what coccidiosis poop normally looks like. There's way too much blood for one thing. And for coccidiosis to produce bloody poop, you would be seeing a very sick chicken as it indicates a bacterial infection in the intestines associated with coccidia eroding the intestinal lining.

What it might be is an injury. Thirty chickens are a lot to inspect one by one, but you need to do so. It could be something as simple and benign as an injured comb, or it could be a prolapsed vent that has been pecked and mangled by the other chickens. The latter would be life threatening.

Look at toes. A torn toenail will bleed a lot, but may not be obvious. At any rate, the amount of blood warrants close inspection of all your chickens to determine the source of the blood.

 

[Mikaylajl]

That is not what coccidiosis poop normally looks like. There's way too much blood for one thing. And for coccidiosis to produce bloody poop, you would be seeing a very sick chicken as it indicates a bacterial infection in the intestines associated with coccidia eroding the intestinal lining.

What it might be is an injury. Thirty chickens are a lot to inspect one by one, but you need to do so. It could be something as simple and benign as an injured comb, or it could be a prolapsed vent that has been pecked and mangled by the other chickens. The latter would be life threatening.

Look at toes. A torn toenail will bleed a lot, but may not be obvious. At any rate, the amount of blood warrants close inspection of all your chickens to determine the source of the blood.

Thanks for the response. It was concerning because of its placment - right under the roost. They were all hiding in there earlier today during a downpour so there is a good chance some pecking may have occurred. Nobody is actively bleeding and I have not seen any blood or bloody droppings out in the run or yard. I couldnt see any injured combs or stained vent feathers on a quick inspection out in the yard but they will all be inspected thoroughly tonight once they are back in the coop on the roost.

 

[Mikaylajl]

Thanks for the response. It was concerning because of its placment - right under the roost. They were all hiding in there earlier today during a downpour so there is a good chance some pecking may have occurred. Nobody is actively bleeding and I have not seen any blood or bloody droppings out in the run or yard. I couldnt see any injured combs or stained vent feathers on a quick inspection out in the yard but they will all be inspected thoroughly tonight once they are back in the coop on the roost.

I just did a full inspection on all the chickens and couldn't find anything all their feet, vents, combs, waddles look great. No sign of blood on anyone's feathers. I did a full coop cleaning this afternoon as well, so if any new blood appears overnight it should be obvious. Not sure what to do next other than wait and see tomorrow.

 

[azygous]

Look at combs more closely tomorrow. When injured, there can be a lot of blood, but you don't always see the injury easily.

A few weeks ago, I caught a glimpse of my Blue Andelusian hen Judy running around with her head and neck positively soaked in fresh blood. I caught up to her and took her indoors to clean her up and treat an expected serious wound. How could there not be with all that blood?

But after I washed her off, I could not find the injury. Judy acted fine. She looked perfect, as if she had merely stuck her head into a bucket of blood. Not even so much as a nick on her comb. No recurring bleeding. Huge mystery. Maybe you have one, too.

 

[Mikaylajl]

Look at combs more closely tomorrow. When injured, there can be a lot of blood, but you don't always see the injury easily.

A few weeks ago, I caught a glimpse of my Blue Andelusian hen Judy running around with her head and neck positively soaked in fresh blood. I caught up to her and took her indoors to clean her up and treat an expected serious wound. How could there not be with all that blood?

But after I washed her off, I could not find the injury. Judy acted fine. She looked perfect, as if she had merely stuck her head into a bucket of blood. Not even so much as a nick on her comb. No recurring bleeding. Huge mystery. Maybe you have one, too.

This morning I found a similar scene under the roost. I believe it is my rooster. The first blood spot was where he sleeps every night but I moved him last night when I was inspecting them and the new spot is where I put him to sleep last night. At this point I am going to say it is definetly droppings. The way it runs down the wall and settles in a pile tells me so
I took a second look at him this morning and his vent does look irritated and red, but no blood on the outside. He seems normal in behavior to me. Here's a picture of what I found this morning. It's less outright bloody but it is still red in color and does have obvious clots in it.

What would you do next?

 

[azygous]

Since you've narrowed it down to the poop being the source of the blood, that is more than enough reason to start the entire flock on a round of Corid with a week in between the first and the second round. This causes no harm if the diagnosis is incorrect.

 

[Mikaylajl]

After my last post I witnessed my rooster having a bloody stool in the run. He started showing signs of lethargy shortly after. I decided to get in contact with our avian vet and had a fecal ran on the droppings. She said there are no sign of Coccidiosis or parasites. She confirmed that it is blood and it appears to be coming from his kidneys/urinary tract. Based upon his symptoms and my hen recently dying of metal ingestion she recommended starting him on the same calcium edta injections I used for her. I gave him his first injection this afternoon so I'm praying we caught it early this time I don't loose him.
After my hen died a month ago we swept our acre field with a magnet and collected many old pieces of metal but unfortunetly lead isn't magnetic and we live on a 100+ year old homestead so I'm sure there is more out there... so stressful!