Hen with a very bloody bum!

[kassandra09]

Here I am again with another post about my chicken issues.

One of my 4 girls showed up with a super bloody bum/vent area tonight and we thought maybe one of the other 3 had been pecking her. I bathed her and used silver honey spray and now she is isolated in our garage. I just came back to check on her and she is all bloody again! So it's her who is doing the pecking. (Pretty gory photo attached)

Her vent itself is fine and she laid an egg today and was happily eating and hanging out with the other 3 girls.

She is a 1.5-2 yr old ex factory hen and the one who is in the worst shape of the 4. She plucks her feathers a lot and is usually wearing an apron to minimize the damage, but this is next level.

She gets layer feed and every day I give them extra protein like eggs or meal worms. They have a big outdoor enclosure 8'x24' and a 8'x6' coop for the 4 of them and we let them free range for a bit every day, I don't think it's stress. All 4 are very friendly mild mannered ladies.

The vent itself seems fine so I suspect she's pecking herself bloody?? How do I get her to stop? Any tips would be great.

Also no mites or lice! I went through that a while back and totally cleared it out I am very on top of checking for that.

Could this be prolapse??

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm not sure she can be broken of that, but what I'd try is a cone like used for parrots. We had one. You can make it yourself though. You need something rigid, like ours was clear plastic with a hole that was lined with cloth so it wouldn't cut her neck. There is a slit cut so you can put it on easier.

I would think a couple of days of this would stop her.

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Ex-battery hens have a hard time with vent issues because of the cruelty of their past life, so if she laid an egg then she could have easily had a problem and damaged her vent somehow. Her flockmates could be pecking her, and they would definitely be pecking her if they see her bleeding because chickens are very attracted to blood. Do you have ducks? If a drake mates a chicken hen, he will rip her vent apart.

 

[kassandra09]

Ex-battery hens have a hard time with vent issues because of the cruelty of their past life, so if she laid an egg then she could have easily had a problem and damaged her vent somehow. Her flockmates could be pecking her, and they would definitely be pecking her if they see her bleeding because chickens are very attracted to blood. Do you have ducks? If a drake mates a chicken hen, he will rip her vent apart.

No ducks only 4 hens. I think she is doing it to herself because I have her isolated and it got all bloody again

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

No ducks only 4 hens. I think she is doing it to herself because I have her isolated and it got all bloody again

That makes sense. Chickens can be attracted to their own blood as well. The cone that Debbie suggested should work well.

 

[Eggcessive]

She could be picking her feathers, but with the red, the others may have started pecking her vent. That leads to cannibalism and in extreme cases death. I would check her for lice and mites, separate her in a dog crate with food and water, but near the others. I would keep her vent clean, and apply some wound spray or plain Neosporin to the area twice a day. You may want to check for overcrowding, too much light inside the coop, and increase her protein.

 

[kassandra09]

She could be picking her feathers, but with the red, the others may have started pecking her vent. That leads to cannibalism and in extreme cases death. I would check her for lice and mites, separate her in a dog crate with food and water, but near the others. I would keep her vent clean, and apply some wound spray or plain Neosporin to the area twice a day. You may want to check for overcrowding, too much light inside the coop, and increase her protein.

If you read my post I'm already doing all of that and since being separated it has become bloody again, so I believe she's the one doing the pecking.

 

[Eggcessive]

I was posting before I saw yours. Sometimes a bad tasting ointment such as pine tar, Nustock cream, Vicks, or no pick lotion may stop pecking. Can you insert a lubricated finger into her vent to check for anything stuck inside?

 

[kassandra09]

I was posting before I saw yours. Sometimes a bad tasting ointment such as pine tar, Nustock cream, Vicks, or no pick lotion may stop pecking. Can you insert a lubricated finger into her vent to check for anything stuck inside?

I'll look into that thank you.