Chickens bleeding from their beaks

[Curt S]

Hi all,

Pretty new to raising chickens, but everything was going swimmingly until this morning.

We woke up to lots of squawking and checked on chickens to find that all three of our chickens were bleeding from their beaks. They are eating a little (barely) and drinking, but clearly not feeling well and are isolating themselves on their roosts, and not complaining to go out.

We have 3 chickens all a little over a year old, 1 Deathlayer, and 2 Buff Orpingtons. They are not sneezing/coughing and the only physical thing I see is the bleeding (poop is normal). Early this morning the blood was dripping down to the bottom of their beaks and falling off, but now it looks to have stopped on all 3 and it's just dried on the beaks. All were seemingly healthy through bedtime last night and were feeding and free ranging as normal. The blood appeared to originate from where the beak meets the head, but it's hard to tell for sure.

The one unusual food item I fed them before bed last night was some leftover shrimp from a salad. It was the first time they had eaten shrimp, and it wasn't old and was from yesterday. All 3 ate it about 20 minutes before bedtime. It was peeled shrimp, the little kind that goes on salads (we all ate it too and feel fine).

Any idea what this is? I've been reading all morning and can't find an obvious cause for this, especially without other symptoms. Thanks!

 

[coach723]

My guess would be some kind of injury. I'd look them all over carefully to see if you can see a beak injury or if it's a tear on the comb near the base of the beak. Comb injuries can bleed a fair amount. Then I'd look around and see if they were trying to get at something where their beaks or combs could have gotten caught and torn, like on fencing or wire, or even feeders, it happens. If something was on the other side they wanted, it may have happened trying to get to it. Any blood around anything in the coop? Another possibility is a predator upset them and they hurt themselves in panic, and you may have interrupted the attack. Look for any predator signs like digging, bent wire, foot prints etc, and make sure your coop is secure, if it was a predator it will probably be back.

 

[Curt S]

Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely start to look more about possible injuries, etc. It's just so weird that it has never happened before and all three at one time. But, as of just now they are acting much more typically, wanting to get out, etc. So possibly not an illness, just a weird coincidence that all three have the same issue on the same morning. As far as predators, it's possible. But it happened overnight, and they are locked in, maybe something at the wire and they were freaking out in the same way trying to run.

 

[lazy gardener]

Any mouse poison on your property? The Warfarin or anticoagulant kind?

 

[Curt S]

so, we inspected the coop really carefully and there was a place where the wire has been pulled back by a predator. So I really think this was it, I think they were panicking and trying to get out through wire. Thanks again for the help! Pen is now more secure than ever.

 

[coach723]

Glad you found it. It was secure enough this time, thank goodness. If you can borrow or get a game camera it may identify whatever is trying to get in. Glad none were seriously hurt!

 

[lazy gardener]

Glad you found the issue, and glad it wasn't poisoning!