Bloody rear end and missing tail feathers

[ACurtis]

I went to let my chickens out of their coop this morning and one of my silkies has a bloody rear end. She/ he is acting normal but I’m concerned being it’s bright red blood. To me it’s rear looks swollen but I’m not sure if that’s just because I can see it now instead of it’s feathery fluffy poof that is normally there. It is 3 months old this week so a little too early to start laying eggs (we are also still trying to figure out if this silkie is a pullet or too). Has anyone seen this? If so does anyone have any advice?

 

[Eggcessive]

Oh no, that looks pretty serious. I agree that I first thought there had been a prolapsed vent as well, and that the others pecked her vent. Vent pecking and feather picking can lead to cannibalism and death, so good that you discovered the injury. Those can happen when they are overcrowded, not getting a balanced 16-20% protein chicken feed, or not getting outside to free range. Having more than one cockerel or rooster may also cause fighting.

Keep her/him separated in a dog crate or inside to help her get enough food and water and to heel. They need to remain part of the flock and to be able to see the flock from the crate if possible. For treating you can use Vetericyn Wound Spray or Chorhexidene mixed with water, and plain Neosporin ointment is good to apply to a wound when dry. Later when it is healing, BluKote may be good to disguise the red wound.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I brought lulu in and started trying to clean her up and she’s having no part of it so I am waiting for my husband who will be home in a few minutes. It smells foul! I’m afraid to hurt her/him, any further by fighting her and cleaning her alone.

After you cleaned it up, does it still have a bad odor?
If it does, it would be a good idea to get some antibiotics and begin treatment.
You can get Procaine Penicillin G at stores like Tractor Supply. 1/4cc daily for 5 days injected into the breast muscle, alternate sides daily.

 

[FishMtFarm]

To me it looks like something got her tail. That’s where all the blood is and maybe the other hens continued to pick at her. That looks
Too high to be a vent injury.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Poor thing. You need to see what’s going on. Soak her in a Luke-warm bath as long as she’s not actively bleeding.
You need to get her away from the other chickens ASAP. They will peck where there is blood
To get her clean and see IF you should soak or not get some hydrogen peroxide and paper towels to clean her. Please don’t just pour the peroxide on her.
Once she’s clean trim (with scissors) as close and as much as you need to clear an area around the wound. Is it her vent?
Clean her up. Remove her from the others then send us more pictures so we can really see what’s going on.

 

[thesanguinesaint]

Please trim the area with scissors and clean. Betadine is a great product that you can get at most drug stores. It is also antifungal and anti inflammatory. Great stuff I keep in my first aid kit. All animals and humans can safely be treated with it. It will help to see what is happening under the feathers. Wrapping her and keeping her calm and quiet will also help. Electrolytes will help with all the stress she is going through. Can you post pics after she is cleaned up?

 

[ACurtis]

She’s cleaned up. I ran warm water over her soaked a rag in warm water with a little peroxide and gently wiped it over the area. Now that I have her clean and out of the coop I can see it much better and the previous poster was correct, it’s way above the vent so at least that puts me at ease (I originally was worried about a prolapsed vent). It looks like we may just have a meanie in the coop that pecked at this ones tail feathers. Here is a better picture. I have her in a little make shift coop here in the garage for now until I’m certain she’s alright.

Back story, I am also finding out I have more roosters then the 1 I thought we had. Half of my group is 15 weeks old the other half is 13 weeks old... it’s possible that as they are getting older they are getting a bit more aggressive. My husband and I are going to move the new identified roosters out of the coop.

I’m also Leary that this guy is a rooster... I have two silkies from the same hatch and this one stands taller and is much bigger then the other that squats more and is just generally smaller. I keep calling it a She in hopes it’s still a girl.

 

[Abriana]

Wow that looks terrible! Poor girl. Keep it clean and put some neosporin on it to keep infection away.

 

[ACurtis]

After you cleaned it up, does it still have a bad odor?
If it does, it would be a good idea to get some antibiotics and begin treatment.
You can get Procaine Penicillin G at stores like Tractor Supply. 1/4cc daily for 5 days injected into the breast muscle, alternate sides daily.

It does still smell. My husband was already at tractor supply picking up feed and an antiseptic for this guy. I called him and asked him to have someone help him find the penicillin... thank you for the recommendation.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I too am a big fan of betadine for wounds. Easy to find and it’s a great antibacterial. Diluted 50/50 with water for open wounds. You can use it to clean that wound at least 3 times a day to flush it until the tissue begins to granulate. Then I would apply topical antibiotic ointment to keep it moist.
Keep her separated until she’s healed enough to apply something like a Blukote.
With some TLC there should be improvements daily. Best wishes