Feathers Missing and a Little Blood?

[MesMama]

I noticed one of my hens today has some wing feathers missing and in one side there's a little blood on one of the feathers where it connects to her?? She acts fine as does everyone else. She seems to be one of the "top birds" pecking at others when I give snacks etc. So I don't think it's from others pecking?

No one seems on edge as I would think they might if something attacked her? Wondering though-could it be from my roo during mating? I have one other that's missing wing feathers but it different and no blood. It's been cold and snowy so they haven't been outside a lot, which made me think of feather picking (there are a ton of feathers in my coop now) due to boredom?

Thoughts?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

It sounds like she is molting and you are seeing a damaged or injured pen AKA blood feather. When new feathers come in they are plumbed directly into the hens' blood supply and grow from the inside out. Blood or pen feathers are fragile and any damage to them can result in serious blood loss, even death from blood loss. If you find a damaged major feather the sure way to stop the blood loss is to take a pair of pliers and smartly yank the faulty feather out. This not only stops the blood flow but it will also cause a new and hopefully perfect feather to grow in.

So when your birds are molting it is best to keep from handling them because it is easy to break the pen feathers and they will remain broken for one year unless you yank the stubs out.

 

[junebuggena]

I noticed one of my hens today has some wing feathers missing and in one side there's a little blood on one of the feathers where it connects to her?? She acts fine as does everyone else. She seems to be one of the "top birds" pecking at others when I give snacks etc. So I don't think it's from others pecking?

No one seems on edge as I would think they might if something attacked her? Wondering though-could it be from my roo during mating? I have one other that's missing wing feathers but it different and no blood. It's been cold and snowy so they haven't been outside a lot, which made me think of feather picking (there are a ton of feathers in my coop now) due to boredom?

Thoughts?

If it looks like a pillow fight happened inside the coop, it's probably molting.
This is what a one of my worst molters looks like right now. She lost over half her feathers in one night.

 

[MesMama]

Thank you for the info! I will try and get a pic of her and post it, they don't let us too close to them so I'm not sure how good of picture I can get ;P

So with molting-I cleaned their coop a few weeks ago because I thought they had molted already and were done and then after they didn't leave the cool for two days because of the snow it's full of feathers again all of a sudden?? So maybe she's molting now and didn't before with the others? No one really got too bare, I just noticed feathers galore in there a few months ago. So maybe she's just now molting?

Also, does it seem strange that the missing feathers are in the same spot on both wings, but no where else is she missing any? It's like someone grabbed a handful and yanked them out and the white down feathers are showing? I'll get a pic and post it, that might help

 

[MesMama]

Oh and yeah it totally looks like a pillow fight happened in the coop LOL! That's a good way to describe it ;O

 

[MesMama]

Just had a thought-so if it is a pen feather and they're easily damaged could it have been broken from the roo? @chickengeorgeto

 

[MesMama]

Here are some pics, we were able to grab her (hope I didn't hurt her, she struggled like a mad woman!) So I looked her over and noticed that she has several spots without feathers that have what look like pins sticking out, on her chest, back and both wings. So that's the molting process right? And then on her right wing where the blood is, it's not actively bleeding. It looks like the feathers were broken off, there are a couple with dried blood on them instead of the nice ends that the other pen feathers have. She had one feather on the right side that was hanging down (you can see it in the pics below) and After we released her it was gone.

Do you think she's okay since there isn't active bleeding? Will those that have broken ends with the dried blood just not grow into feathers until her next molt? Thanks so much for your help!

@chickengeorgeto
@junebuggena

 

[MesMama]

Right side-

And then after we looked her over-

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Here are some pics, we were able to grab her (hope I didn't hurt her, she struggled like a mad woman!) So I looked her over and noticed that she has several spots without feathers that have what look like pins sticking out, on her chest, back and both wings. So that's the molting process right? And then on her right wing where the blood is, it's not actively bleeding. It looks like the feathers were broken off, there are a couple with dried blood on them instead of the nice ends that the other pen feathers have. She had one feather on the right side that was hanging down (you can see it in the pics below) and After we released her it was gone.

Do you think she's okay since there isn't active bleeding? Will those that have broken ends with the dried blood just not grow into feathers until her next molt? Thanks so much for your help!

@chickengeorgeto
@junebuggena

A broken pen feather will fail to grow or mature. That is why I pull them out and that is the reason that I advise everyone to remove all broken pen feathers.

Try to make it a habit to only catch your hens after dark when they have gone to roost. It is easier on you and it is easier on your hens.

 

[MesMama]

Is it going to hurt her when I pull them out? There are about 4-5