Help! Hen with bleeding vent....

[Anonymous]

Hi - I'm a new member of this site who's in need of some good advice.

I have 10 free-range, happy hens (Rhode Island Reds). Today, when I went to collect the eggs, I noticed an egg with blood streaks on it. In order to discover which hen had laid this egg, I fed them and had a look at the rear ends. I discovered one hen had blood in and around her vent. It wasn't pouring out but there was enough fresh blood to have me worried. There didn't appear to be any prolapse or any obvious signs of trauma (i.e. pecking by other hens). I couldn't see any worms, lice or anything else that would account for the bleeding. The egg she laid was perfectly normal in size, shape and texture. She's eating well and doesn't appear to be distressed at all. Her comb is a bit dull and flecked with black marks. Apart from that, she seems fine. I don't want to remove her from the coop unless I have to as she will have to go through the pecking order again not to mention coping with 1 large dog, 2 boistrous children and 1 cat in the house. However, if necessary, she can come into the house to be nursed inside a large pet cage. Has anyone had experience like this? Any ideas on what to do? All suggestions appreciated. Many thanks. Emma

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Emma,

Blood on the outside of an egg can be caused by the hen straining to lay a large egg,i don't know if this is what has happened to your hen or not though.From your message it sounds a lot of blood,although a teaspoon of blood can make a big mess.
If she doesn't appear distressed,I would clean the blood away and see if she carries on bleeding when not laying,if she does I would suggest taking her to a vet asap.hopefully you have a poultry vet close to you.

If it doesn't carry on bleeding after cleaning I would keep an eye on her and monitor what happens next time she lays.Is she laying daily?

Sorry I can't suggest anything else,good luck and I do hope it is just a one off.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lydia

Thanks for this. I'll give it a try and monitor her to see how she gets on. We're snowed in at the moment so I'm hoping we won't need a vet :!: Fingers crossed.

Emma

 

[Tim]

Sounds like good advice from Lydia to me.

Sounds like she's had a small prolapse and could have problems but it could be very small. As Lydia said, a little blood looks like alot.

The trick is to watch that there's no further blood on the back end so she doesn't get her back end pecked since hens are obsessively attracted to red.

Stress, age, obesity or poor nutrition can contribute to prolapse.

The snow can stress poultry - they are creatures of habit and whilst people think chickens are stupid, they are actually just showing nervousness to changes. The ground suddenly changing colour can upset them greatly, especially if they have never seen snow before.

Not that I think the snow has caused this but it could be a contributing factor... Good luck, keep us posted and oh er.. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Emma,
all of mine were/are really upset about the snow,although they haven't stopped laying, so maybe they are not as upset as I think they are.
Hopefully,finger's crossed it is a one off,that although worrying for you, wont need veterinary treatment.
I think sometimes some hens are just un-lucky, and slightly more prone to a prolapse.My RIR had one with her previous owner,but has made a full recovery,although she seems to have stopped laying completely.
Let us know what happens,hopefully nothing which would be the best news.

 

[Anonymous]

The blood should happen if the chicken is still young. It happened to my hens a few years ago and now they are full grown and don't have that problem. If the blood isn't dripping then there isn't anything to worry about. I only seen young hens with that.