Dead Hens???

[Doyle]

Hi, I went out in my chicken yard about 11AM. I had 3 Chickens with blood all over them up around there heads and necks. I mean quite a bit of blood. I looked them over but couldn't find out where it came from. I had a few bloody eggs that I blamed on cold weather and young hens just starting to lay. Anyway I went out of town for 6 or 7 hours and when I got back I had 2 dead hens laying there with there butts around the vents all a bloody mess. I was thinking the earlier chickens that had blood on them created the problem. Dose this sound like my problem or what. Help.

 

[Player Hater]

You should try to be more specific. Do they look like they have obvious injuries, or just unexplained blood? Could they have been attacked or are they sick?

 

[Gargoyle]

Sounds like it could be a mink or weasel, but we'll need more info.

 

[Doyle]

We don't have Mink or Weasel around here, I don't believe it came from the outside of the yard.

 

[Doyle]

I said I looked them over, it wasn't there own blood. I think it came from the dead hens even though at the time they didn't seem to be injured. Everything is alright this morning.

 

[Player Hater]

Sorry, your post was a little confusing

 

[Doyle]

Just an update on my problem. I went out to the chicken yard yesterday (Sunday), and had a couple of chickens being picked on. The other chickens were running up behind them and pecking at there butts. One looked terrible and was bleeding and another was looking bad. I seperated them out and put them in single pens. (Monday) They are doing ok now not being picked on. I notice when they were bleeding the other chickens was fast about eating up that drop of blood. I have a lot to learn. Thanks for the feed back.

 

[Player Hater]

I would suggest doing a forum search and reading any threads about vent pecking.

 

[Doyle]

Thats the first place I started looking. Thanks anyway.

 

[Player Hater]

Sorry I wasn't more helpful. Do you have any idea what could be causing your recent problems? Could your birds be overcrowded or unhappy for any reason? Do they have access to feed and water all day long? Have you examined the vents of the whole flock? It seems like the bloody eggs and the vent pecking are probably related. Something is causing their vents to bleed and then the other birds are attacking them because of the blood. Try searching the threads about bloody eggs and vent bleeding for any clues as to what might be going wrong.