horrific bloody mess under tail

[Kulyks]

I just noticed this this morning. One of my hens seemed to be bleeding out of her butt, rather horribly. I immediately separated her from the others and cleaned her up, but don't know much to do beyond that. She might be defecating more than usual (although I'm not quite sure about that, it might just be that she's in a rather small space so its much more noticeable). Does anyone know what's wrong? How I can help her, and if I need to take measures to stop it from developing in the rest of my chickens? (I have sixteen).

 

[GD91]

That looks horrible, make sure you keep her separated.

Have you noticed any changes in behavior / egg laying? Is she currently laying? How is her current behavior?

What about feeding & drinking? Any history of being eggbound?

Sorry about all the questions

but....

Hopefully someone with more "Vent" experience will be along soon & they will need that information.

 

[Kulyks]

I don't know whether she's currently laying, but I guess I'll find out soon. She actually seems pretty normal, walking around, eating, drinking. It doesn't seem to impair her. Again, with 16 chickens and a shared laying area, you never know whose eggs are whose. Plus the coop fairly far away from my house, so I only go down there 2-3 times a day, not enough to notice significant behavior. Sorry that all of this has been unhelpful.

 

[Kulyks]

Anyone?

 

[CMV]

She probably had a prolapse that the other birds took note of and they went after it. It was likely small enough or only a partial prolapse, so it went back into place without any intervention. Unfortunately, the other birds did a number on her in the interim. It is a good thing you found her before the rest of the flock pecked her to death and/or cannibalized her.

You need to clean up the wound as much as possible and put some protective ointment over it. She will need to be separated until it heals up enough to be hidden. Keep an eye on her when she lays eggs because once a bird prolapses there is an increased risk of it happening again.