Hen with bloody vent after laying eggs

[BuddingGardener]

Hi, everyone!

I have a black australorp hen who is just coming back into lay after her winter molt. She hatched in April 2022 so she's a little over a year and a half old and coming up on her second year. She was always an absolutely fantastic layer and she started laying again with XL-sized eggs by weight; the eggs themselves are perfect and she lays them just fine. My concern is that her past 2 eggs have made her bleed out of her vent directly after laying. The first time it happened was a few days ago, and there was a splat of blood in the nest and on the egg.

The second time it happened was today, and her egg and the nest were actually clean. However, when I went to collect eggs, I noticed she was bleeding clots out of her vent and there was blood in the run. I separated her immediately and cleaned up her vent area, then provided her with food and water. The bleeding resolved and she ate and drank normally after that.

I examined her vent and it's clear and unmarked; no signs of prolapse or pecking injury, nor have I witnessed any pecking. There is no sign of mites or lice, either. She is in the middle of the pecking order of my flock of 9. It has been excessively cold this past week and I wonder if the extreme cold combined with her just starting to come back into lay may have caused some ruptured blood vessels when she went to lay her eggs, but I am not totally sure.

I did bring her into the vet for a non-emergent visit today and she behaved like her normal self, eager for mealworm treats from the vet. They agreed her vent looks good and her x-ray didn't look abnormal. They took a clean stool sample for testing (we did test in the fall and had no parasites in the flock) and gave us an anti-inflammatory pellet to feed her for a week with a small egg withdrawal period.

Does anyone have any insight on what level of bleeding is normal vs abnormal with a ruptured blood vessel? It was pretty alarming to see her bleeding as much as she was. Now that she is cleaned up there is no sign of blood anymore, and she has not passed clots or blood at night when she roosts. I'm hoping this is just a brief anomaly that'll clear on its own, but I'm a little concerned that the bleeding was worse today than the previous time she laid an egg.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have no answer for you but would like to follow this thread.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hopefully this is just a glitch and will resolve as she begins to lay more. Could be ruptured vessels due to straining.

If find more blood, can you take photos?

Curious as to what an anti-inflammatory pellet is - does it have a name?

 

[BuddingGardener]

Hopefully this is just a glitch and will resolve as she begins to lay more. Could be ruptured vessels due to straining.

If find more blood, can you take photos?

Curious as to what an anti-inflammatory pellet is - does it have a name?

Yeah, it's just Rimadyl/Carprofen. What I'm seeing is it's basically a veterinary NSAID for potential pain relief and mild anti-inflammatory benefit, which is what they told me it would do.

Not sure if it's something that will help much as she only bleeds after laying an egg. I'm waiting to hear back on the fecal tests... they offered to have a specialist radiologist look at the xray but it would have cost $300 on top of the vet visit and that was a bit too much to pay for something that might not have yielded any additional benefit.

I could try to seek out a second opinion from one of the other area exotic vets I can dig up but at this point it's a lot more money to spend on vet bills that I don't think is wise to do.

As far as the blood I will take photos if it happens again. There were clots in the run today and blood stuck to the feathers below her vent when I scooped her up for a quick separation to ensure her flockmates wouldn't start pecking her.

 

[BuddingGardener]

UPDATE: She hasn't bled anymore since the weather warmed up, and actually, she's acting much more active and happy overall! The fecal results came back high for eimeria (coccidiosis) so we're treating the flock with amprolium to be safe. She has some capillaria in her results but the vet does not recommend treating for it because the count is very small.

So we started the five day course of Corid treatment today and will taper down to the maintenance dose for another week or two afterwards.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

UPDATE: She hasn't bled anymore since the weather warmed up, and actually, she's acting much more active and happy overall! The fecal results came back high for eimeria (coccidiosis) so we're treating the flock with amprolium to be safe. She has some capillaria in her results but the vet does not recommend treating for it because the count is very small.

So we started the five day course of Corid treatment today and will taper down to the maintenance dose for another week or two afterwards.

I'm glad she's doing better!

It's good that you were able to see the vet and are treating her for Coccidiosis. Eimeria is the genus of Coccidia that affects poultry, there are 9 strains, but the Corid should take care of that.

Capillary worms were found? If so, I would treat for those too, but of course that's up to you. Safeguard liquid goat dewormer dosed at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once daily for 5 days in a row will take care of those.


Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

 

[BuddingGardener]

I'm glad she's doing better!

It's good that you were able to see the vet and are treating her for Coccidiosis. Eimeria is the genus of Coccidia that affects poultry, there are 9 strains, but the Corid should take care of that.

Capillary worms were found? If so, I would treat for those too, but of course that's up to you. Safeguard liquid goat dewormer dosed at 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once daily for 5 days in a row will take care of those.


Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.
Do not add any extra vitamins/electrolytes that contain B1(Thiamine) to food or water during the course of treatment.

We're going to deworm for the spring, I think. Since there is confirmed SMALL counts of capillaria, I figure after we do the course of Corid and that's cleared we can do our deep spring prep clean + deworming. We already have the liquid Corid on hand and dosed all the waterers immediately with the 2 tsp per gallon course.

I don't have dewormer on hand and I'm looking to purchase to prep. Which is most user friendly and foolproof? The Safeguard dewormer? I've also seen Valbazen recommended, and i see Meyer Hatchery has capsules of fenbendazole for sale.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, I read small count. Capillary worms are not ideal to have.

Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Albendazole (Valbazen) are both good dewomers to use.
Both Safeguard and Valbazen are dosed orally by weight. Dosing and administration is below.

To treat Roundworms Only - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days. This dose and timeline will treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworms.

To treat Tapeworms. Praziquantel is required. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

IF you wish to use the pills that are sold as Poultry Dewormer, then I suggest you read this thread, it can be helpful in figuring the correct dosing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

 

[BuddingGardener]

Yes, I read small count. Capillary worms are not ideal to have.

Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Albendazole (Valbazen) are both good dewomers to use.
Both Safeguard and Valbazen are dosed orally by weight. Dosing and administration is below.

To treat Roundworms Only - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

To treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm - Safeguard dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Valbazen dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days. This dose and timeline will treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworms.

To treat Tapeworms. Praziquantel is required. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-tapeworms-under-construction.1220309/

IF you wish to use the pills that are sold as Poultry Dewormer, then I suggest you read this thread, it can be helpful in figuring the correct dosing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/are-these-normal-poops.1553393/

Super enlightening! I'll go with Valbazen for now since there's no tapeworms detected, thank you!

Is it safe to dose dewormer during the amprolium treatment? I ordered it but it should arrive early to mid next week.

 

[dawg53]

Capillary worms are killers. You've got to kill them hard and fast. Yes, you can use Valbazen and amprolium at the same time. Please read posts #2 and #4 in this link on how to worm your birds with Valbazen.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/worms-in-chicken-poop.1575508/#post-26765905