Poor Penny-girl

[welovechickens]

I found blood in one of the chicken cages today! My heart nearly stopped, but all the chicks look perfect. I checked all of them over, and found blood on Penny's toe, and thought maybe she caught her toenail in the hardware cloth and wrenched it. Her toe wasn't injured, though. Then a little later I saw the side of her head! I think she reached up to scratch at the side of her head, and broke the skin somehow. I wiped the blood off her feathers and fuzz and checked her over. Her ear opening looks fine, and I can't find a scratch anywhere. ???

So I'm not sure what happened. I'm just glad she is acting normal! She ran, jumped, and played all afternoon outside in the coop.

 

[fargosmom]

Birds bleed out really easily so this is something to stay on top of, but if you can't find a wound and she's acting ok then it was probably a scratch that clotted on its own. Keep an eye on her but she's probably ok. A good thing to keep around is Quick Stop (a brand name) or other styptic powder to cauterize any bleeding injuries quickly. I keep it around for my birds and dogs (and have occasionally used it on myself

)
If you do find that she's bleeding again and don't have any styptic stuff on hand you can try flour, but I don't know if it works as well. Good luck and hope this helps!

 

[welovechickens]

Thanks for the tips! We have a styptic pencil....would that work? We've used it on ourselves before LOL....stings like the dickens, but works fast!

There was only one "drip" of blood that I found on the floor of the cage....the rest was tiny bits scattered on the hardware cloth floor where she'd walked around. I didn't hear any screaming from them last night, so I don't think any "fowl play" was the cause.

 

[welovechickens]

Oh duh.....I just noticed you said styptic powder. I really do pay attention! lol

 

[fargosmom]

a styptic pencil works too . . . I just have the powder 'cuz I got it at the pet store a million years ago and it's a pretty big jar. I use a q-tip to apply it. Anyway, if there's no fresh blood I'm sure you're fine - it was probably a small ouchy. Just be aware that birds don't always clot easily, and even a small amount of blood loss for them can be dangerous because they have less blood, percentage-wise per body weight than mammals, (if I'm explaining it right) so they can't afford to lose much.

 

[fargosmom]

p.s. the powder may be easier to use because you can use a q-tip to pack it into cavities (ie: a broken nail) that you might not be able to get the pencil into. Just a thought.

 

[kycklingar!]

Definitely sounds like a toenail. They bleed a lot. This would also explain how the blood got on her head when she scratched.

Another really simple and almost always-available styptic alternative is a bar of soap. Just scrape the toenail into it, and it stops the flow instantly. (only works with beaks and toenails, though... not other wounds.)

I'm sure she's fine now!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

One day I walked into the barn and found what seemed like a darn massacre. One of the Plymouth rocks had injured her foot and there was BLOOD EVERYWHERE. I mean it looked horrid.

Later that day she was roosting quietly and I saw the injury. She has a small cut on her foot and that was all.

She is doing just fine and keeps laying like a banshee.

 

[welovechickens]

Thanks everyone, Penny looked perfect today, no blood anywhere.