Bloody Vent

[august95]

Hello All, I have been lurking for about 8 months and hate that this is my first post however, I have two of my four birds sick.

My girls were hatch Apr. 7th and started laying at around 5 months. They have layed an egg almost every day since that time. Living in BC we have mild weather and I keep a light on for them in the day time.

About 4 days ago, my leghorn Doc started laying blood streaked eggs. I was not too alarmed since she had layed a bigger than normal egg the day before. Yesterday I notice her back end was caked with poop and blood. I washed her off with a warm cloth and set her up in the dog kennel in the laundry room. She has been eating and drinking the entire time. In fact putting up quite the fight to get out of the dog kennel. No more blood dripping but still had diahria and blood smear on the egg she layed today.

Now my fav girl Charlotte layed her regular egg today and she is having the same issue. Blood spears.

It has been cold and wet here and they were inside for a few days. This was outside of the routine as they usually come and go as they please during the day.

There bedding is pine shavings, I freely spead DE around the coop when I clean it. I feed them 16% layer pellets and a wide range of "treats" greens, oatmeal, yogurt, bread, everyday. They eat better than I do somedays lol.

I cleaned out the coop yesterday because with all the wet weather it was really starting to stink and there was more moisture in the shavings that I was happy with.

I have been given all the birds a helping of Marvel Aid broad spectrum antibiotics and hope that will help but it is made for smaller birds and I can't find anything made for chickens in my area.

The birds don't seem sick at all except for the blood.

Any help would be appreciated... greatly.

Oh I should add that there is nothing sticking out of the vent. The vent is not blocked in any way. Also I did seach the archives but was not able to find anything regarding bleeding without prolaps.

Oh and, they were all vaccinated against COC/MAR

 

[sammi]

take a fresh fecal sample to a vet for worms and protozoa (cocci) test..
sometimes called a fecal float.
bacterial test can be done..but might be pricey..

cut way back on the treats..(except yogurt..but not every day..that's too much)
try for a few days only giving the layer feed.

do you give grit? (granite grit) useful for when they're cooped up.

could one of the hens be pecking while one is laying?
common, especially when cooped up.

what is the size of your nest boxes?
if they aren't roomy enough for the hen to keep her back in the box and faces the front..she can get pecked.

also..is the eggs are big..keep a c.lose check on the vents for prolapse..

"chicken antibiotics" can be found in the livestock section of farm/feed stores..and online..

http://firststatevetsupply.com/

is one option..
there are others..hatcheries, for example.
MCMurrays, Meyers, etc..

it's possible they don't need an antibiotic at this time..
could be diet causing the diarrhea, and other reasons for the blood, as above.

 

[august95]

Hi Sammi,

Thank you so much for the reply. I will contact the vet in the next city over and see if he can help. He has seen my dogs before so hopefully he can.

Can I continue to feed them greens (spinich and lettuce)? Or just stop all of it, including hen scratch? How often would you suggest yogurt, or oatmeal... they sure like their oatmeal

I am really lucky that I don;t have any pickers. I have a top bird but everyone gets along. They have a nest box that is 12x12x24 but only one of them uses it and the other three lay their eggs in the a frame roof of their house. They are more interested in yelling about the egg laying going on than picking on each other... oh the racket!

Since the birds are free range, I have never given grit but do supply DE. We got hit with some bad weather and they were locked in for 3 days... I gave them the option to come out but they were not interested. This was about 4 weeks ago.

Anyways, I will keep an eye on them today and get on the phone with the vet.

Thanks again for your help

 

[katrinag]

The hen looks good, good color in the wattles and comb.
I would not give any treats for a bit and see if there poo goes back to normal. You can give oatmeal every other to every 3rd day.

 

[august95]

Great, thank you for the information. It's so odd, they don't seem sick at all and are very feisty and eating and drinking and goofing around.

The original sick bird Doc, is now doing much better.

Dang, talk about killing with kindness... Same reason my Labrador is fat. Too much of a good thing.

I will do my best to cut down on treats all around... We could all use it.

Thanks again.

Oh edited to add:

Would the vaccination for Cocci not still be effective? They were given medicated feed as chicks for one small bag as the hubby got the wrong stuff and chicken supplies are very limited in my area. Could the medicated feed have voided the vaccination or does it only last so long? Sorry for the confusion but this is all very new to me.