Trying to stay calm even though we've got blood

[AmyRey]

One of the girls is bleeding. From her rear area, around or from her vent. I've washed her off and see no wounds at all. It started in daylight hours, very near the house. I can't really see a predator coming around and not killing her (and the other three girls) or not wounding her more severely than it did. Maybe dealing with a cat?

Also, her vent seems to be having "contractions" for lack of a better word. I sat her in warm water to wash her off and I feel something round and hard-ish. Maybe an egg? She's not laying yet. And I have NO idea what to look for in a hen that's eggbound. ***clueless***

She doesn't appear to be overly stressed. She was roosted when I got home and working on cleaning herself up. She's resting comfortably inside now.

She has pooped since she's been inside a couple of times. First poop was perfectly normal (both white and black) but the second was almost all black.

Advice?

 

[NotTheMomma]

Well without some photos, and not being there, I'm only taking a guess here. Sounds like prolapse with eggbound. Please do a search on this site, and there's lots of info on helping with both issues.

I do remember that you give TUMS for the calcium/contractions, and soak in warm water to help relax the hen, and ease the egg out. But I know there's more info available. BEST OF LUCK!!

 

[AmyRey]

Okay, I searched a bit and found some pictures. Our girl doesn't look nearly as bad as those. There's nothing "poking out" and while I don't exactly know what a "normal" vent looks like, I can't imagine it's too different from hers, minus the blood.

I'm going to Google a bit more, check on her one more time and then I think I'll go to sleep since it's almost midnight. Hopefully, she'll be okay in there sleeping for a few hours.

If she were "eggbound" would the egg be stuck right near her vent? I thought I read somewhere that it would be farther up? Closer to her crop? I will probably go out and feel up some of the other girls, just so I know what a chicken abdomen is supposed to feel like, for comparison's sake.

Any ideas ya'll come up with in the meantime would be great.

 

[AmyRey]

/yawn

G'mornin, ya'll. (Man it's early.)

An update:
"Righty" is still alive. She was resting peacefully a minute ago when I checked. Awake, but still sitting (the other girls outside in the coop are too it's not time for her to be up and about yet).

I went out and grabbed another of the girls (one not having any problems) and felt of her abdomen. Hers was just bony. Nothing round and firm like this girl has.

I'm going now to look up what to do for an eggbound hen and wait until it gets light outside before I go try and clean her back up to check things out again.

 

[AmyRey]

Even though it appears I'm only conversing with myself - lol - I'm posting another update. I know you guys are all sitting around drinking your coffee and as soon as it kicks in, you'll show up with a wealth of information.

Righty has gotten another bath. The bleeding has stopped. She's almost totally clean now and I still cannot find any wounds or anywhere that the blood would have been coming from. *puzzled*

She ate a little - a lovely concoction of strawberry oatmeal, layer crumbles and yogurt - which she seemed to enjoy an awful lot. However, she doesn't seem to be drinking very much. I put some sugar in her water to make it a bit more appetizing, but she still doesn't seem very interested.

She's preening her feathers now and acting really rather normal.

Her vent was still making those "contracting" movements as well, at a frequency of about every two seconds. It seems that her pooing has slowed a bit since midnight, although what she did manage to produce looked perfectly normal. I'll be checking her crate often to see if this is still the case now that she's eaten a bit.

Oh and as far as the firm lump in her belly goes, it's either gone or it has moved farther up in her system? Can't really say that I feel the same thing this morning that I remember being there in her belly last night. But then again, these are our first chickens ever so I'm totally clueless.

*** shrug ***

 

[AmyRey]

Hi, Amy! It's me again!

Well, hey there, Amy! Welcome back!

Thank you!

Figured I'd post another update.

We got some poop. Rather large (4-5x normal amount) and watery. Mostly the usual white stuff (but more liquid than pasty) and the normal black lumps.

I moved her into a larger crate where she'll have room to move around some if she wants. She was just standing there, looking somewhat in the dumps. Her tail is droopy but it's also still wet from earlier. She's in front of the dryer, inside so she shouldn't be too cold. Now she's preening herself some more and looking a bit more lively.

That's all to report for now, Amy.

Okay, Amy... let us know more when you can.

Will do!

 

[kycklingar!]

Well, if you're getting poop she's not likely eggbound, or if she is, it's pretty far up the canal. I really can't explain the blood.

I imagine no-one else is responding, because we just have no darn idea what's going on. But my heart is with you. Keep updating, even if you think you're just talking to yourself. It will keep the post near the top where others can find it.

 

[CoopCrazy]

You said she wasnt laying yet ,... May just be her trying to get that first egg out ... One of my teens acted weird yesterday squawking and dropping her tail then later I found a lil bitty egg with some blood on it.. Iwouldnt worry too much if she is preening my one eggbound chicken was not doing anything but laying around..

 

[Shiningfeather]

I have no experiance with egg bound, but where was the lump when you felt it?? Could it have been her crop. They usually go down by morning because the digest the food over night. They also will have a large watery poo in the morning, and that is normal. How old is she? Is she at egg laying age?? I am not sure where the blood would have come from, but she sounds normal other wise. Her tail being droopy and her looking down in the dumps might be from her being sad that you have her in the house for now watching her. When I have seperated mine they seem to get depressed.....not with their friends/sisters doing normal chicken things.... How much blood was there??? I hope you figure out where it came from, but I think some of the things you mentioned are normal chicken behavior.

 

[AmyRey]

Omigosh! Look, Amy! We've got company!

Last night, the lump was very near her vent. Now, it's either moved back up into her abdomen (the wrong way) or it's gone. The crop is one of the things my son and I discovered the other day. Feels like a balloon filled with sand or grains of rice. Weird. But this lump was not really anywhere near where the crop would be.

Not sure (volumewise) how much blood was lost, although I'm sure it looked worse than it really was. I will say, also, that the last time I checked on her (midnight or so), it was literally dripping off her feathers. Not very much, but still obvious that it was actively bleeding. There was a good bit of dripped blood below where she had been roosting before I got her in as well. And some of the blood looked like it was somewhat clotted? Both bright red and dark red/brown clumps.

I am pretty sure she's around 17 weeks of age. And she's an orpington, cause I think that makes a difference. I was not expecting an egg from any of them for another couple of weeks. Although, I did get what I think was an "egg song" from one of them three or four days ago I don't know if it was this girl and none of them have been "receptive" at all to our rooster. They squawk loudly and run away. Every time he tries to get lucky.

She's just standing still again. Looks like she's drifting off to sleep every so often. Our doxie is guarding (read: staring intently at) her and chases away the cats anytime they show the slightest interest. lol Guess she figures if I won't let HER have Righty, then no one else can either. lol

I think I'll go shower now and maybe when I get done, it'll be warm enough to move her crate outside where she can at least see the other girls. Hopefully, that will perk her up some.

I'll report back soon.

Edited to add: Both Amy and I are kicking ourselves for leaving the camera at work yesterday.