Limping chicken with weird poop

[Whistlinghill]

My pullets have just started laying and one of them is acting odd. Griffen has quite a limp, favouring her left leg but her droppings look odd as well. Do you think she might be egg bound? Or something else?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks like there's blood mixed in.

@Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

It looks like blood to me, too. @Whistlinghill you need to verify it's blood in the poop sample.

I may risk upsetting someone, but it just drives me crazy trying to offer help when people asking for it don't tell us where the heck they are located. Geographic location offers us so much information and eliminates wasted time asking these types questions.

For example, a person from coastal Oregon or California or Florida may be having spring-like wet weather and coccidia will be blooming. It's one cause of poop pictured above.

Also, telling us how the chickens are behaving helps a LOT.

 

[Whistlinghill]

It looks like blood to me, too. @Whistlinghill you need to verify it's blood in the poop sample.

I may risk upsetting someone, but it just drives me crazy trying to offer help when people asking for it don't tell us where the heck they are located. Geographic location offers us so much information and eliminates wasted time asking these types questions.

For example, a person from coastal Oregon or California or Florida may be having spring-like wet weather and coccidia will be blooming. It's one cause of poop pictured above.

Also, telling us how the chickens are behaving helps a LOT.

I’m in BC in Canada so it’s snowy and very wet right now. It has been quite warm these past few days.

in terms of her behaviour, she’s limping and extends her wings when she walks. She also only walks for short distances before lying down. She’s been on the roost all day to avoid the other hens picking at her but she is still eating and drinking if I bring her to food and water. She seems to be drinking a lot though. It does look like blood to me as well and that was my first thought. How would I verify that?

 

[Whistlinghill]

I also brought her inside right now just to monitor her for a bit while I try to figure out what to do. When she lays down she does so with her wings out like this

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you feel under her lower belly between her legs to see if it is enlarged or swollen? The dropping looks like it is pure urates with some blood, and the urates appear yellow. Is that just the picture or are they yellow to you? Are you able to post pics of further droppings? Has she started laying eggs recently? Can you insert a clean finger into her vent 1-2 inches to check for a stuck egg?

 

[Whistlinghill]

Can you feel under her lower belly between her legs to see if it is enlarged or swollen? The dropping looks like it is pure urates with some blood, and the urates appear yellow. Is that just the picture or are they yellow to you? Are you able to post pics of further droppings? Has she started laying eggs recently? Can you insert a clean finger into her vent 1-2 inches to check for a stuck egg?

I just checked for an egg and there does not appear to be one. Her belly doesn’t seem swollen but I am very new to chickens so it’s hard to tell. She also hasn’t pooped since I posted the last picture. It was a little yellow tinted but not a lot.
As for eggs, I have 14 pullets and they’re just starting to lay so it’s hard to tell if she had even started laying yet. Most of them lay brown eggs and I’ve only caught one chicken laying. It wasn’t her. I gave her a quarter of an 81 mg aspirin for the pain in her leg. It’s definitely her right leg that’s bugging her.

 

[azygous]

Is your ground frozen or is the surface thawing? The yellow color does point to egg issues, but the puddle poop with what appears to be blood points to intestinal infection. It might be worthwhile to give your chickens a round of amprolium.

An antibiotic might be a good idea for the chicken that produced the boody poop if you see it again, and if you know which one it is.

Watch your chicken tomorrow very closely. Look for any that are slow, droopy, fluffed up, tail down, eyes dull. That would be your sick one.

 

[Whistlinghill]

Is your ground frozen or is the surface thawing? The yellow color does point to egg issues, but the puddle poop with what appears to be blood points to intestinal infection. It might be worthwhile to give your chickens a round of amprolium.

An antibiotic might be a good idea for the chicken that produced the boody poop if you see it again, and if you know which one it is.

Watch your chicken tomorrow very closely. Look for any that are slow, droopy, fluffed up, tail down, eyes dull. That would be your sick one.

Today the ground was thawing.
the bloody droppings are from the same chicken that is limping and I have identified and separated the bird that is ill. I’ll watch for droppings but she hasn’t passed any since the first picture I posted.

 

[Whistlinghill]

She pooped again and it looks much better. No yellow to it and no obvious red. It’s also not as runny anymore. Her leg is still really bothering her, do you think I can give her another quarter of the aspirin? I’m not sure what her exact weight is but she is a 19 week old production red.