Does anyone know what may have happened here?

[cackleberryandco]

Sorry for my second post today! I post a lot on this forum.. my chickens seem to have plenty of ailments that keep me on my toes.

This is my Barred Rock hen, Peck. She was my first chicken and I love her with my whole heart. She will be turning one in May. Last night after work I went in to lock them up and noticed her head was wet; on further inspection, it was blood. I brought her inside and cleaned her off, took her back into the coop and she went up to bed. This morning, she seemed very out of it. She was standing around, fluffed up with her tail droopy. She stood in the same spot completely still for an hour and was laying down in various spots too. This is very unlike her. I brought her inside so I could clean her more thoroughly and while I was filling up the bath tub, she was just standing there looking absolutely miserable. She kept flicking her head around as well. I attached photos so you could see where the blood was as well as where there is a bald spot that wasn't there before. I can't see any visible cut or scrape. There is some spots on her comb, is it bruising? Can combs get bruised? It isn't usually there.

She is very well respected through the flock, I have never once seen her get pecked so I highly doubt it could have been caused by another chicken. Could she have just bonked her head? What can I do to make her more comfortable? Is there anything I need to be worrying about? Thanks!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Is it possible she was attacked by something like a hawk?

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

She was probably attacked be something

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Regardless of what did it I would treat her for shock and keep her in a separate place to relax and heal.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Regardless of what did it I would treat her for shock and keep her in a separate place to relax and heal.

Yes definitely dark quiet place with so sugar water

 

[Lizzy733]

Bruising can take a few days to show up. So no signs of a puncture anywhere on her? Are any of the other hens behaving oddly or anxious?
Generally, an attack should upset the whole flock unless one of them is the culprit.

She should be kept in a warm quiet place for recovery. A small kennel draped with a towel would be ideal and maybe a heat pad unless this causes panting. Keep an eye on her color and I'd recommend a dose of electrolytes, polyaid or similar rescue formula. I doubt she'd take this on her own, so would need to be tube-fed down.
My least evasive way if doing this is a kitten\puppy stomach catheter cut down to size where it can reach 3/4 down the throat used with a 12ml syringe. It's just thin enough to get fluids and remedies down and aside from opening the beak, my girls don't tend to notice or get concerned over it due to its small size. Definitely helps to keep the stress to a minimum as the proper catheters are just way too stressful for a shocked bird.
I'd also put her on white paper towels to keep an eye on her poops or to spot bleeding. It's not uncommon for girls to turn on a sick hen.
How long has it been since the supposed injury? I find birds in shock with superficial injuries tend to turn around in a few hours after some rest unless there's something else going on too.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Looks minor for a hawk attack.. but symptoms are major.

Is she eating or drinking? Dehydration is deadly fast. When was her last egg and is she passing droppings?

She needs to have her crop inspected for fullness, flatness, squishyness, and abdomen for swelling (water belly or internal laying) and skin condition or other possible puncture wounds, and vent inspected for egg binding to rule it out.. if it's a softee it might feel like a poo instead of an egg that she would be sting in the box for.. it's possible she was attacked by a hawk or the flock if she was already under the weather they would notice first and they can be ruthless taking that advantage.

We need to verify no sour or blocked crop. And also that she isn't egg bound.

Please don't apologize or feel bad for posting, it's WHY we are here! I hope you find answers and your hen recovers quickly!

Quick question, do you have a cockerel in your flock?

 

[Tonyroo]

Don't be quick to assume what might have happened to her. Look around the places she normally hangs out, most of the time there's visual clues on the ground or on bushes and objects.

 

[cackleberryandco]

Is it possible she was attacked by something like a hawk?

She was probably attacked be something

Bruising can take a few days to show up. So no signs of a puncture anywhere on her? Are any of the other hens behaving oddly or anxious?
Generally, an attack should upset the whole flock unless one of them is the culprit.

She should be kept in a warm quiet place for recovery. A small kennel draped with a towel would be ideal and maybe a heat pad unless this causes panting. Keep an eye on her color and I'd recommend a dose of electrolytes, polyaid or similar rescue formula. I doubt she'd take this on her own, so would need to be tube-fed down.
My least evasive way if doing this is a kitten\puppy stomach catheter cut down to size where it can reach 3/4 down the throat used with a 12ml syringe. It's just thin enough to get fluids and remedies down and aside from opening the beak, my girls don't tend to notice or get concerned over it due to its small size. Definitely helps to keep the stress to a minimum as the proper catheters are just way too stressful for a shocked bird.
I'd also put her on white paper towels to keep an eye on her poops or to spot bleeding. It's not uncommon for girls to turn on a sick hen.
How long has it been since the supposed injury? I find birds in shock with superficial injuries tend to turn around in a few hours after some rest unless there's something else going on too.

Looks minor for a hawk attack.. but symptoms are major.

Is she eating or drinking? Dehydration is deadly fast. When was her last egg and is she passing droppings?

She needs to have her crop inspected for fullness, flatness, squishyness, and abdomen for swelling (water belly or internal laying) and skin condition or other possible puncture wounds, and vent inspected for egg binding to rule it out.. if it's a softee it might feel like a poo instead of an egg that she would be sting in the box for.. it's possible she was attacked by a hawk or the flock if she was already under the weather they would notice first and they can be ruthless taking that advantage.

We need to verify no sour or blocked crop. And also that she isn't egg bound.

Please don't apologize or feel bad for posting, it's WHY we are here! I hope you find answers and your hen recovers quickly!

Quick question, do you have a cockerel in your flock?

Don't be quick to assume what might have happened to her. Look around the places she normally hangs out, most of the time there's visual clues on the ground or on bushes and objects.

Sorry! I'm answering all of you! I was at work!

Unfortunately I failed to add all details because I typed that up in the car on my way to work. I do not think it was a hawk attack. My chickens had a hawk attack about a month ago, and then in addition to that, bird flu was found in a neighboring county, so out of abundances of caution we have kept them inside their roofed run securely closed in. I also checked around and found no evidence of any break ins. My hens are a little on edge with each other, but I think that's because of boredom. So I don't think it's due to a predator attack. I tried to look around any spots where she could have snagged herself but I couldn't find any blood or feathers anywhere. As far as I have seen, my other hens have left her alone. I can't see any visible cuts or gashes, just a lot of missing feathers and blood. I fear her comb may have been ripped upwards, is that possible?

Her crop feels fine, it actually feels pretty empty considering how late in the day it is, so that concerns me that she isn't eating much? I have seen her drinking though. She laid an egg today after her bath, around 1 pm (at her normal time; she lays 1 hour later each day) so I don't think she's egg bound. The egg seemed fine. She is passing droppings. This happened between 4pm and 6pm yesterday.

I don't know how easy it might be for me to separate her? We don't have a garage and I'm in northern Illinois, so it gets pretty cold at night still here, so she'd have to come inside, but our house is very loud and I fear it would stress her out more?

I put out food for them about 45 mins ago right before they went up to sleep, she was the only one who didn't seem too excited about it. She ran up to the food with everyone else but didn't actually try to eat anything.

Also, someone asked.. I've got a flock of 7 laying hens. No roosters/cockerels.

Hope this gives some more context! I'm so sorry I didn't apply it earlier!

 

[Lizzy733]

Sorry! I'm answering all of you! I was at work!

Unfortunately I failed to add all details because I typed that up in the car on my way to work. I do not think it was a hawk attack. My chickens had a hawk attack about a month ago, and then in addition to that, bird flu was found in a neighboring county, so out of abundances of caution we have kept them inside their roofed run securely closed in. I also checked around and found no evidence of any break ins. My hens are a little on edge with each other, but I think that's because of boredom. So I don't think it's due to a predator attack. I tried to look around any spots where she could have snagged herself but I couldn't find any blood or feathers anywhere. As far as I have seen, my other hens have left her alone. I can't see any visible cuts or gashes, just a lot of missing feathers and blood. I fear her comb may have been ripped upwards, is that possible?

Her crop feels fine, it actually feels pretty empty considering how late in the day it is, so that concerns me that she isn't eating much? I have seen her drinking though. She laid an egg today after her bath, around 1 pm (at her normal time; she lays 1 hour later each day) so I don't think she's egg bound. The egg seemed fine. She is passing droppings. This happened between 4pm and 6pm yesterday.

I don't know how easy it might be for me to separate her? We don't have a garage and I'm in northern Illinois, so it gets pretty cold at night still here, so she'd have to come inside, but our house is very loud and I fear it would stress her out more?

I put out food for them about 45 mins ago right before they went up to sleep, she was the only one who didn't seem too excited about it. She ran up to the food with everyone else but didn't actually try to eat anything.

Also, someone asked.. I've got a flock of 7 laying hens. No roosters/cockerels.

Hope this gives some more context! I'm so sorry I didn't apply it earlier!

Comb injury and pulled feathers make me think it was a flock bully. Back when I had shavers, my head hen would always go for the combs.

The presence if blood may provoke another attack. You said they're a bit on edge from boredom? Do they have enough run space for everyone? Areas where they can run to break line of sight and not get cornered? Multiple feed and water stations?

Might be time to crack out the boredom busters and keep everyone too distracted to get up to no good. If she is no longer in shock and is drinking, I'd really work on correcting the environment to deter further attacks and keep an eye on her behavior.

Also, check her overall body condition at the breast\keel bone. Compare to a healthy hen of the same breed or similar build. The bone should not be very prominent, though sticks out more with hybrid layers and less with heavy breeds. If it's a bully situation, she may be being kept from the feeder, so do be mindful of this. Does she gorge herself if you offer her food out of sight of the rest of the flock?