Down a layer...

[EggsandMeat]

Two evening ago I went in to feed the girls, 10 Rhode Island Reds and a Cornish Giant lady and noticed the Cornish Giant was speckled in red flecks. Look around the coop and noticed the back wall along their roost is speckled with blood, then the food dish, top of the waterer... I did the best job I could to find out who was hurt but none of them showed ANY obvious signs of being hurt! ??? ???

Next morning no more blood spatters, everyone seems to be doing fine and they all come over for breakfast and tuck in. Last night feed, I notice one of the Reds won't come down off the ladder to the roost and is pretty lethargic. I then notice the right side of her comb along it's entirety has been torn up tight to the feathers and there seems to be a rip under her eye too. I tried to feed her on her own on the ladder but she barely took 3 pecks at the feed. I was almost late for work at this time so I had to run hoping she was going to be ok.

Unfortunately when I went in to feed them next I found her rather stiff corpse close to the door. Do I need to take her to the vet to check for anything or was she just in a tough fight and lost. None of the other birds seem to be having any issues like this. A few have a minor touch of frost bite, I'm working on a humidity issue there and seem to be slowly winning, another story in it's entirety.

Help oh wise ones!!!

Any ideas? Did she lose the argument? Have I got a killer chicken in the coop?

 

[OhMyItsAndyy]

I'd take another look at your hens.
If there is any damage from her head, thats where a lot of blood could be from. It seems she would have lost the arguement. So give another check.
I'm sorry for your loss

 

[EggsandMeat]

Thanks for the response!

All the other girls seemed fine the passed day or so. I'm thinking she wasn't a fighter, unfortunately she was one of our good daily layers. More next year!