Polish covered in blood with no visible wounds

[Faverolle Lover]

I have a polish hen i recently discovered with heh feet, crest, and her left earlobe covered in blood. I can't find any injuries on her. She is still alive but very low energy. Does anyone know why she's like this? I couldn't find any corpses of anything, and her crop is empty so she didn't kill and eat a mouse, but my coop looks like a murder scene with a portion of the perch coated in blood. Please help!

 

[AltonaAcres]

I have had this happen several times. Usually, the comb can bleed easily. Did her comb have blood? Otherwise, it's most likely her toenail. Their toenails may bleed if they are pulled out, or if they get stuck in something and get clipped. I had a hen the other day who had a very bloody toe, I assume because it got pulled out. Then, as chickens do, she scratched her head/neck with the bloody foot making her had bloody. This could be the culprit. Id give her a warm bath, get her hydrated, and she should perk up.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Whoops, forgot to add, look carefully under all her feathers for a wound. I had a turkey with a gaping wound that went unnoticed for several weeks, because it was under his wing/feathers.

 

[staceyj]

Photos please.

 

[Faverolle Lover]

I have had this happen several times. Usually, the comb can bleed easily. Did her comb have blood? Otherwise, it's most likely her toenail. Their toenails may bleed if they are pulled out, or if they get stuck in something and get clipped. I had a hen the other day who had a very bloody toe, I assume because it got pulled out. Then, as chickens do, she scratched her head/neck with the bloody foot making her had bloody. This could be the culprit. Id give her a warm bath, get her hydrated, and she should perk up.

Thank you so much! I'll be trying that!

 

[Faverolle Lover]

it is looking like it's her toe, it's broken and bleeding when it get wet. I just can't believe she's lost that much blood from just a toenail!

 

[Eggcessive]

Has it been freezing where you live? Just asking because her feet look to have some frostbite on the toes. There also are some raised scales that are a sign of scaly leg mites.

So, the blood all came from a broken toenail? Do you think that the others pecked at her because of the red color, and made it worse? I would look over her toes, and if you think there is some frostbite, I would bring her inside and do some warm soaks to both feet. Usually, we don’t ever rub or massage frostbitten tissue. But we can use 2% chlorhexidene or betadine, or Vetericyn wound spray, or gently dab antibiotic ointment on it.

Hopefully, I am wrong about the frostbite.

 

[Faverolle Lover]

Has it been freezing where you live? Just asking because her feet look to have some frostbite on the toes. There also are some raised scales that are a sign of scaly leg mites.

So, the blood all came from a broken toenail? Do you think that the others pecked at her because of the red color, and made it worse? I would look over her toes, and if you think there is some frostbite, I would bring her inside and do some warm soaks to both feet. Usually, we don’t ever rub or massage frostbitten tissue. But we can use 2% chlorhexidene or betadine, or Vetericyn wound spray, or gently dab antibiotic ointment on it.

Hopefully, I am wrong about the frostbite.

Just checked and thankfully she doesn't have any frostbite, just a bunch of dried blood and muck. I haven't washed her yet, the toe still hasn't healed enough. I found her soaking it in her water dish which made it start bleeding again. I just clipped her claws and checked for mites too. The scales are really tall and thick but aren't turning up at the tips like my other birds that've had, could it still be mites?

 

[staceyj]

Since you have her clean and indoors, I’d give her a little mini pedicure.
Some of her nails could use a trim.
If they are a bit shorter they might not get hung up.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am glad that you don’t think there is any frostbite. I would keep an eye on the scales, as it looks like some might be missing. It was in the 3rd pic that looked like raised scales. The last picture looks better. Usually an oil is applied and rubbed into the scales once a week to smother scaly leg mites. Ivermectin pour on can be used as well.