Help! Bloody rooster!

[pattycake]

Hey, I don't know why, but my Buff Orpington rooster is bleeding heavily from his head and the tips of his comb.

We've had some very cold, windy weather, and he got some frostbite on the tips of his comb.

I've since gone around and blocked all the little vent holes trying to stop the problem. Over the weekend he had a bite mark on his wattle, so I daubed it with blue kote and it seems fine now. (Some of the dark on his comb is blue kote, too)

Anyway, I just went out in the coop and found blood drops everywhere. There is a little blood on the comb, but most seems to be coming from the top of his head just under the back of his comb. I brought him into the greenhouse and he's kind of unhappy about it, but he just ate whole cooked egg and his poops look normal and he's crowing, so I don't think he feels too bad.

Is someone pecking on him? It's possible, because they're used to free ranging a couple hours a day and they've refused to even go into their run (which I just wrapped in plastic) because of the wind and cold. There are 14 of them in the 8 by 8 henhouse. But why are they pecking on the the only rooster??

And what can I do about it? I can keep him in the greenhouse as long as I need to, but he doesn't have much to do without his girls around. Would it be better to find out who's pecking him and remove her??

And what to do about the bleeding?

 

[jeaucamom]

You need to wash his head the best you can with warm soapy water and apply some neosporin. This way you will also know if he has a gash from an injury or raw skin from pecking. Keep us posted on how he is doing and good luck. Suz

 

[silkiechicken]

If he is bleeding behind his comb, could he have gotten his head stuck somehow and tore the back of it? I had a silkie get his head stuck in something once and he tore the middle of his comb really bad. When I found him there was so much blood it coated his crest and one of his eyes was shut. Cleaned him off and it was just blood spewing from the center and it wasn't really that he was attacked or half eaten. Just bloody.

Clean up his head and see if there are wounds and he should be fine.

 

[pattycake]

WEIRD! I cleaned him up and went up behind his comb with a q-tip and found a lot of coagulated blood... but no wound! It bugged him when I poked around back there, but I couldn't find where the blood was coming from.

I guess it's possible that he got his comb caught somehow and the blood came from the line between the comb and his head. Or maybe someone pulled on his comb?

He's shaking his head a lot and mostly just standing in one place. I got him to drink a little electrolyte solution I had from when they were chicks.

Anyway, the bleeding seems to have stopped. I don't want to take him out just to have to bring him back in and clean up more blood, so I might just keep him inside until the storm is over.

These chickens! I never expected to get so attached!