Hen Bleeding!

[cluckcluckgirl]

I have entered the chicken coop two times and seen blood on the straw from one of my hens. There is about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of blood on the floor. When I get in there, the bleeding has stopped, but I don't know if losing that much blood is fatal or not for a chicken.

 

[countrygoddess]

Are you able to tell where it is coming from?

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

Yes, it looks like it is coming from the exterior of the vent area, but not from inside the vent.

 

[countrygoddess]

Is one of your other chickens picking at her? If it's an exterior wound, it could be reopened by others picking at it. How is she acting otherwise? How's the color of her comb? How do her poops look? Is she eating and drinking okay? 1 tsp of blood isn't a big deal for a chicken to lose, but I'd try and figure out why she's bleeding...

 

[LilyD]

If it's on the outside skin you could use blue kote on it. I would just put something over her vent opening so it doesn't get in there. It comes in a spray and makes it taste bad for the other chickens so they tend to leave it alone. I had a chick last year that had been picked at and used it and it worked wonders.

 

[cluckcluckgirl]

While digging around in the straw to make sure there weren't any nails poking up, I found one of her feathers from around her vent area. She loses only about 1 feather a month, so I think another chicken has been pecking at her. Her behavior is normal, she eats, drinks, and even still lays eggs. Her comb is bright red, as usual. The tricky thing about her is even if she's bleeding or hurt, she usually won't show pain.