Injury? Attack?

[gummylick]

I can't figure out what's going on with this hen. None of the other hens seem injured or attacked but she's all bloodied up. Any ideas?

 

[Nabiki]

That does not look like quail on quail violence to me. Do you have rats or mice?

 

[gummylick]

I saw a rat cross the fence last night but their enclosure is pretty secure. 1/2 in hardwire on open sides and enclosed wood in closed side.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Are there wounds on the neck or breast? Or is it blood from the mouth? Head/eye/tongue wounds can bleed a lot (think nose bleed!) and a little blood makes a big mess. Check the tongue, skin under the feathers, nostrils for dried blood. Wounds to the skin suggest rodents. No wounds but blood in mouth/tongue/nostrils suggests head trauma, possible head bonk, caught her tongue on a loose wire…also inspect the cage for blood spots and hazards.

 

[gummylick]

So I went out and checked again and looks like she spent some time in the powder room and got all cleaned up. She somehow managed to get a large part of the blood off her mouth and feathers. There's blood spatters in there and on the food tower. I have no idea whether she got injured or she fought something in there but it looks like BigMa took care of it.

 

[Midnight Roost]

I had a roo with something similar and had noticed the tip of his beak broke. No idea what he smashed it on, but he recovered fine.