Hen Bleeding From Spur Bud

[frankincheeks]

Hi,

I am on this site looking all the time for answer to questions and it is always soo helpful! Anyway, I have yet to find anything about hens with spur buds bleeding.

My hen that is about 1 year old has been bleeding from the tiny little bud on her leg where a spur would grow if it were a rooster. This was happening a few weeks ago and it just randomly started to drip blood, so much so that I use styptic powder to stop it. Now on the other leg is the same thing, right in that spot where there was a spur bud it is dripping blood for no apparent reason. There has been no injury and all birds (other than an elderly hen) are perfectly healthy. I suppose it is possible she literally pecked the buds off? If not that has anyone ever encountered thus problem before? I am not sure how worried I should be as this is the same as having a quick cut too short, chances of bleeding and infection are a concern.

 

[Lenihan Farms]

Sometimes chickens can get mites that crawl under the plates in their legs, this causes irritation and the chicken starts to peck at their legs. We had a rooster with this issue 2 years ago, have you noticed small black insects climbing on the chicken at all?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi,

I am on this site looking all the time for answer to questions and it is always soo helpful! Anyway, I have yet to find anything about hens with spur buds bleeding.

My hen that is about 1 year old has been bleeding from the tiny little bud on her leg where a spur would grow if it were a rooster. This was happening a few weeks ago and it just randomly started to drip blood, so much so that I use styptic powder to stop it. Now on the other leg is the same thing, right in that spot where there was a spur bud it is dripping blood for no apparent reason. There has been no injury and all birds (other than an elderly hen) are perfectly healthy. I suppose it is possible she literally pecked the buds off? If not that has anyone ever encountered thus problem before? I am not sure how worried I should be as this is the same as having a quick cut too short, chances of bleeding and infection are a concern.

Do you have photos?

Odd that both are bleeding. Did she have spurs growing in at all? Some hens do have spurs.

She may be picking at her legs or another bird may be doing it during roosting.
Is there anything she could be getting injured on in the coop?

I agree, it's worth checking her over for bugs too.

 

[frankincheeks]

I did not get pictures before she went into the house for the night. She had little buds there but not actually growing in. I thought it might be that they were itchy or somehow bothering her but it just seemed odd that the other one was bleeding too. There is not wound or anything, just a missing spur bud and blood dripping. I had a hen a few years back start to grow real small spurs but she never seemed to be bothered by them.

 

[frankincheeks]

I will catch her in the morning chaos and get a couple photos

 

[frankincheeks]

Well I did not get photos, this hen does not come up as much as the others and my chickens are spoiled rotten so when I sit still they are jumping on my lap and pecking at my phone or anything else I have in hand. Anyway, the hen with the bleeding does look like the nubs are gone so she must have pecked them off. It was just very odd to have them bleeding at different times and I have never seen or heard of this type of behavior before,