Bloody nesting boxes and bloody eggs...

[Hobbshouse14]

Help please! When we came home from work tonight to lock the girls up in the coop and collect eggs, we found blood on the walls of all four nesting boxes, some of the eggs, and a few spots on their front porch and side of coop. There was a new blue egg with blood on it as well. We were not expecting a new blue egg as the girls that have still not laid up until this point are a buff Orpington, a blue laced red Wyandotte and a silver speckled Hamburg. We have an Easter Egger and an Ameraucana that both lay blue eggs currently and a variety of brown egg layers. The girls are all roosting and by shining a flashlight, we cannot see any obvious trauma to vent holes as best we can tell without disturbing them too much. What should we look for in the morning? I understand that a little blood can occur from new egg layers occasionally or from older girls, but this seems like a lot to me. Please help us with advice and suggestions on what to do and look for. Thank you so much!

 

[azygous]

You're looking at the wrong ends of your chickens for recent injuries that would account for the blood splatters. Look at the combs, not the vents.

Are you where it's early summer? Hormones and tempers can get pretty heated up, hens, and even the rooster, will all try to crowd into a single nest at once. It can be a real circus.

After one such episode, which I happened to snap a photo of, blood splatters decorated the inside walls of the nest box after the wild party broke up.

 

[Hobbshouse14]

You're looking at the wrong ends of your chickens for recent injuries that would account for the blood splatters. Look at the combs, not the vents.

Are you where it's early summer? Hormones and tempers can get pretty heated up, hens, and even the rooster, will all try to crowd into a single nest at once. It can be a real circus.

After one such episode, which I happened to snap a photo of, blood splatters decorated the inside walls of the nest box after the wild party broke up.View attachment 1221579

Thank you for the advice. It is cold here with highs in the 30-40’s and lows in the teens. Two of the nesting boxes never get used by the girls, but all four on opposite sides of the coop had blood, even the two without any eggs in them. We will definitely check the combs in the morning. We do have one Cochin rooster who is very gentle with the girls if that makes any difference at all. We’ll update in the morning after we check all of their combs and examine each one closely. Thank you for replying!

 

[rebrascora]

If it has been cold and they are confined to the coop, sometimes they get ratty and fights break out. I would agree that combs are the most likely injured area to look for. Birds just coming into lay sometimes try to improve their pecking order status and that can lead to fights too.
If the blood is in all 4 nesting boxes it sounds like one of them has been unsuccessfully trying to find sanctuary, perhaps from a bully. How big is your coop and how many chickens in it? The blue bird in the second photo looks like she may have comb damage?

 

[Hobbshouse14]

If it has been cold and they are confined to the coop, sometimes they get ratty and fights break out. I would agree that combs are the most likely injured area to look for. Birds just coming into lay sometimes try to improve their pecking order status and that can lead to fights too.
If the blood is in all 4 nesting boxes it sounds like one of them has been unsuccessfully trying to find sanctuary, perhaps from a bully. How big is your coop and how many chickens in it? The blue bird in the second photo looks like she may have comb damage?

We have a 12x32’ covered run that is accessible from sun up until they go in to roost at night and a coop with three roosting bars (they usually leave the bottom one unoccupied) and four nesting boxes for nine girls and one boy. We also have many roosting spaces in the run with lots of space to let them get away from each other. How do I keep a new layer from being bullied in the nesting box? I’ve never seen our rooster go in the coop during the day. He likes to stay out in the big covered run as do all the girls unless they are laying.

 

[azygous]

Conflicts are a natural feature of Chicken World. Most conflicts between individuals are over in seconds, and we usually aren't even aware of them happening. It's futile to try to prevent them. Adequate run space will keep them to a minimum.

Occasionally, a comb injury occurs, and then we notice blood has been spilled. Combs are a lot like human scalp injuries - they tend to bleed a lot worse than the actual injury warrants.

The reason comb injuries occur is because two hens, in a heated argument, will grasp the other's comb with her beak. This is sort of like a sock to the jaw when two humans fight.

The worst comb injury I've seen in over ten years of keeping chickens was to a SLW pullet. She was a bullying victim back in her early days. She had a very large comb that extended well beyond the back of her head. It made a very handy target, and it was torn halfway off her head on more than one occasion. Even such a dramatic injury was actually rather minor, and the comb reattached to her scalp and healed in a matter of days.

In her case, I finally decided to partially dub her comb, removing the rear protrusion, and that ended her victim-hood since she no longer had anything handy for her enemies to grasp. Her remaining compact comb served her well into old age, and she ended her life at the top of the pecking order.

 

[Hobbshouse14]

If it has been cold and they are confined to the coop, sometimes they get ratty and fights break out. I would agree that combs are the most likely injured area to look for. Birds just coming into lay sometimes try to improve their pecking order status and that can lead to fights too.
If the blood is in all 4 nesting boxes it sounds like one of them has been unsuccessfully trying to find sanctuary, perhaps from a bully. How big is your coop and how many chickens in it? The blue bird in the second photo looks like she may have comb damage?

You have a fantastic eye from a blurry shot. I went back out to look and sure enough, Lola has a bloodied comb. It looks clotted. I can see one other girl with a bloodied comb as well, also clotted and not as obvious as Lola’s.

Do I need to keep those girls separated so no further pecking occurs during the day? Both of these girls have been laying for a while, so I’m not sure how the new blue egg fits in to the picture. Should I make some nesting boxes in the run itself so they won’t even have to go in the coop to lay? Maybe Fancy Pants (our Cochin rooster) could better manage scuffles that way?

Thank you so much rebrascora and azygous for your advice!

 

[rebrascora]

Your set up looks absolutely gorgeous, but your coop is very small for so many birds and that may be the problem now that more of your chickens are becoming adult. You could add free standing external nest boxes to the run, so that the pullets can access them without going into the coop. If you try that, put curtains on them to make them darker as they prefer a place that is dark and quiet. I place my free standing nest boxes in a corner, facing a wall, so that they are dark and feel safe.

Your cockerel could be the culprit too. Perhaps he has been trying to mate an unwilling pullet. Combs often get ripped when a pullet doesn't cooperate with a cockerel and pulls to get away from him. Having a young cockerel with pullets is not an ideal situation, especially if there is not an older rooster to keep him in line. Once those male hormones start to surge, they will not take no for an answer and it is not unheard of for a pullet to get scalped. Once blood is drawn, other birds will sometimes attack and things can get nasty.

 

[rebrascora]

When you have a free day, spend some time observing them and you should be able to figure out where the problem lies. Whether it is the cockerel or two females having a ding dong over pecking order. I would not separate them as long as they have plenty of room to get away. You might want to invest in some Blue Kote to spray injured combs, so they don't attract more unwanted attention.

 

[azygous]

@rebrascora made a very good point. The cockerel is likely a source of some of the damage to the combs. I have one of these sex-crazed little fools myself, and he gets to spend a good portion of the day on the outside perimeter of the run or in the jail enclosure inside the run in order to maintain the peace.

As for the girls fighting, they have more than likely resolved their issues, and there is no need to try to segregate the combatants at this point.