Hello all,
I am new to joining the forum but have read the posts for quite sometime now.
I bought a mixture of chicks from my local tractor supply co. back in the end of march. I brooded them indoors till last weekend when I moved them outside to a larger brooder with a wire floor and a pen. Everyone seemed fine through all this.
Yesterday, I got home from work and a cornish hen was slumped against the side of the pen and her whole rear end was bloody and she had lost probably 30" of intestines. Another cornish hen had the bloody rear end and all the other chicks were following her and pecking her rear. The whole flock had bloody faces.
I removed the 3 cornish hens and The original sick one died a short time later. The other two are still alive and the rest of the flock seemed fine.
I got home from work today and 2 buff orpington chicks were affected much the same. One was already dead and one had a severely bloody rear that the other chicks were pecking. I removed the sick one and put it with the 2 cornish hens and when I removed the dead one I notice that the whole entire rear end of the chicken was gone... totally not there. I could see right down in the cavity and the hole was probably the size of a dime or more.
I let the other chicks that seemed healthy out of the brooder in case it is something in there they were trapped with, but I'm confused to what it could be.
Has anyone else encountered anything like this?
Thanks for your help.
Sam
I am new to joining the forum but have read the posts for quite sometime now.
I bought a mixture of chicks from my local tractor supply co. back in the end of march. I brooded them indoors till last weekend when I moved them outside to a larger brooder with a wire floor and a pen. Everyone seemed fine through all this.
Yesterday, I got home from work and a cornish hen was slumped against the side of the pen and her whole rear end was bloody and she had lost probably 30" of intestines. Another cornish hen had the bloody rear end and all the other chicks were following her and pecking her rear. The whole flock had bloody faces.
I removed the 3 cornish hens and The original sick one died a short time later. The other two are still alive and the rest of the flock seemed fine.
I got home from work today and 2 buff orpington chicks were affected much the same. One was already dead and one had a severely bloody rear that the other chicks were pecking. I removed the sick one and put it with the 2 cornish hens and when I removed the dead one I notice that the whole entire rear end of the chicken was gone... totally not there. I could see right down in the cavity and the hole was probably the size of a dime or more.
I let the other chicks that seemed healthy out of the brooder in case it is something in there they were trapped with, but I'm confused to what it could be.
Has anyone else encountered anything like this?
Thanks for your help.
Sam