I think my leghorn is sick!

[hahmmy]

My leghorn is about 7 mo and has been laying for 8 weeks. She started laying bloody eggs two days ago. It looks like more than the streaks i have seen on the eggs of the others in the beginning. That being ssid she did produce a huge double yolk one today with a fair amount of musus and blood on it. I picked her up and her vent feathers are all gooed with what looks like diarrhea tho i looked at dropping and dont find diarrhea. To make things more odd she had some blood on her head and her comb looked a little bruised. She acts totally fine but i am worried. She lives with an australorp and a EE in a coop and run that is just big enuf..but not really. Was free ranging but i have a huge hawk problem and have lost birds. Thus these guys have been locked up. ?fighting? She is typically most dominant. I am putting up a BIG new coop and enclosed run this weekend. Sorry fir two strange complaints..cant tell if the comb thing us injury or related to a potentially worse issue with her other end! Ideas appreciated. These are my first girls..had since september .

 

[Eggcessive]

She might have been pecked by the other hen, especially if she was taking too long to lay her egg and the other hen wanted that nest box. It sounds like she could be getting egg bound or laying overly large eggs that are causing her to bleed a bit. These hens might be prone to having eggs break inside or to become egg bound.

 

[hahmmy]

Thanks! When I got home from work today I took a closer look . Her vent was prolapsed from her huge eggs, the comb was picked by other hens as there was blood and they were picking on her. She seemed well despite all. I gave her a bath, washed vent area well then pushed it back in with prep H and cortisone ointment . She is isolated in the dark in an old dog crate in my dining room so she won't be chilly. I will see how she looks tomorrow but plan to keep her separate until I put up my new coop and run this weekend. Hopefully this will give her time to heal. And I hope this is not a recurring issue !

 

[Eggcessive]

You can try to keep her in a dark room or covered cage for 16 hours every night. This can stop her from laying after several days, giving her vent time to heal. A decrease in protein may also help. A prolapse can damage the vent, so it can happen again. Unfortunately the hatcheries have a large demand for hens who lay huge eggs every day, and that can lead to these problems.

 

[hahmmy]

She is definiteoy unhappy with me. I gave her graoes this mirning and she was thrilled with that. But niw she us very skittish sfter the bath etc..hard to pick her up. Im ginna have ti wrap her with a towel to wash her vent area again this afternoon. Still looks red and swollen. I hope I dont have to send her to chick heaven. I cannit put her with the others with unhealed bum and bruised up comb correct? They will pick on her? I feelso bad for her.

 

[hahmmy]

Yes, that is what we are doing currently. I never thought about hatcheries self selecting giant egg layers, but I guess that makes sense esp with leghorns as they are kind of the white egg producting breed for the market. Kind of sad.

 

[Eggcessive]

She is definiteoy unhappy with me. I gave her graoes this mirning and she was thrilled with that. But niw she us very skittish sfter the bath etc..hard to pick her up. Im ginna have ti wrap her with a towel to wash her vent area again this afternoon. Still looks red and swollen. I hope I dont have to send her to chick heaven. I cannit put her with the others with unhealed bum and bruised up comb correct? They will pick on her? I feelso bad for her.

If your coop or run is large enough, you could put her out in a dog crate in there with food and water so she can be back with the other chickens. That is a good way to keep them familiar with each other so she doesn't need to be reintroduced. The comb is not as bad as her red vent area.