Chicken Bleeding Below Rectum

spanglers1

Hatching
Jul 17, 2018
2
2
6
My hen is bleeding below the rectum. It is not the rectum. I am not sure what the cause is. Is anyone familiar with this. I am new to raising hens - she is 5 months old. Any advice would be appreciated. There appears to be a lot of blood but it is not actively bleeding.
 
My hen is bleeding below the rectum. It is not the rectum. I am not sure what the cause is. Is anyone familiar with this. I am new to raising hens - she is 5 months old. Any advice would be appreciated. There appears to be a lot of blood but it is not actively bleeding.
She could be close to laying and have laid a first egg. Have you seen any bloody eggs?
 
The best thing to do to get the best help from the community is bring her inside, get her cleaned up and take photos.
Nice clear ones.
When you post them attach them as “full size image” instead of “thumb nail”.
That was people can use the zoom feature and get started with guidance.

You’ll want to set her up inside tonight for sure Ina dog crate, box, laundry basket. Keep her warm and hydrated.

Things that come to mind immediately:
Pecking wound
Prolapse
(Pecking wound because of prolapse)
Fly strike
Animal attack.
 
This is the best I can do photo wise. Hopefully someone can help.
IMG_1424.jpg
 
It could have started with one pinfeather that bled a bit. Then chickens pick at the bloody spot, and pretty soon, there's a big, ugly wound like she's got. Trim the feathers around the area, avoiding any other pinfeathers that might bleed more, clean the area (with soapy water then clean water, or with bactine, or with an iodine wash, anything to get the area clean), then dry her off and put some medicine on it. I use a Blukote type of liquid, called Farnam Blue Lotion. It comes in a small, dark blue jar, with a brush on the inside of the lid. It's great for sealing injuries, preventing more pecking while healing, and keeping out infection. Reapply daily - or more often, if needed: if she bleeds more, if she gets the area dirty, etc. - until she's healed up.

For now, I'd keep her inside, and watch the area closely for any indications of flystrike or infection. Give her treats like yogurt or scrambled eggs with garlic (it sounds nasty, but it's great for them), to boost her strength to fight off infection, and I'd give her another boost by putting vitamins & electrolytes in her water. I use the Durvet brand type, as it's in a tightly sealing jar, and has a measuring scoop that comes with it.

Specific items I mentioned:

https://www.farnam.com/all-products/wound-care/blue-lotion
https://www.durvet.com/product/vitamins-electrolytes-100-gm/
 
Good morning. I am so sorry I fell asleep last night but it looks like you got wonderful advice from BYC members. It does look like a pecking wound. Thank goodness you saw that she was in trouble!
*I am a big fan of Veterycin spray gel. It runs around $25 dollars for an 8 oz. spray bottle but it goes a long way and really helps.
Here’s a picture. F2118655-031D-4ED6-85B2-28C7F7C89A59.png


Young, healthy birds heal fast, but in my opinion it’s imperative that she be kept indoors for at several days (til the wound closes). Lots of protein in her diet will help her heal.
Scrambled eggs, canned fish, yogurt (plain-0% fat)

The case for keeping her inside is three fold.
1. To prevent the others from attacking the area again. Whether it’s covered with blue or not, chickens are brutal. You’re lucky they didn’t kill her.
2.To keep dirt out of the open wound, preventing infection.
3. What would really make this an even more awful situation is fly strike.
An open wound is prime real estate for flies. Dark, moist, oozing with body fluids.... YUCK!
Just ONE fly laying one batch of eggs in the wound would result in 150 maggots 24 hrs later. Imagine many more.
 
I don’t know much about nothing. But to me it looks like a abscess (from a feather) that bursted open. I see two holes the vent and something to the lower right. It needs to be clean and unnoticeable to the others (healed a bit) the others will fixate on it and peck her only making it a real BIG problem.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom