BuddingGardener
Songster
Hi, everyone!
I have a black australorp hen who is just coming back into lay after her winter molt. She hatched in April 2022 so she's a little over a year and a half old and coming up on her second year. She was always an absolutely fantastic layer and she started laying again with XL-sized eggs by weight; the eggs themselves are perfect and she lays them just fine. My concern is that her past 2 eggs have made her bleed out of her vent directly after laying. The first time it happened was a few days ago, and there was a splat of blood in the nest and on the egg.
The second time it happened was today, and her egg and the nest were actually clean. However, when I went to collect eggs, I noticed she was bleeding clots out of her vent and there was blood in the run. I separated her immediately and cleaned up her vent area, then provided her with food and water. The bleeding resolved and she ate and drank normally after that.
I examined her vent and it's clear and unmarked; no signs of prolapse or pecking injury, nor have I witnessed any pecking. There is no sign of mites or lice, either. She is in the middle of the pecking order of my flock of 9. It has been excessively cold this past week and I wonder if the extreme cold combined with her just starting to come back into lay may have caused some ruptured blood vessels when she went to lay her eggs, but I am not totally sure.
I did bring her into the vet for a non-emergent visit today and she behaved like her normal self, eager for mealworm treats from the vet. They agreed her vent looks good and her x-ray didn't look abnormal. They took a clean stool sample for testing (we did test in the fall and had no parasites in the flock) and gave us an anti-inflammatory pellet to feed her for a week with a small egg withdrawal period.
Does anyone have any insight on what level of bleeding is normal vs abnormal with a ruptured blood vessel? It was pretty alarming to see her bleeding as much as she was. Now that she is cleaned up there is no sign of blood anymore, and she has not passed clots or blood at night when she roosts. I'm hoping this is just a brief anomaly that'll clear on its own, but I'm a little concerned that the bleeding was worse today than the previous time she laid an egg.
I have a black australorp hen who is just coming back into lay after her winter molt. She hatched in April 2022 so she's a little over a year and a half old and coming up on her second year. She was always an absolutely fantastic layer and she started laying again with XL-sized eggs by weight; the eggs themselves are perfect and she lays them just fine. My concern is that her past 2 eggs have made her bleed out of her vent directly after laying. The first time it happened was a few days ago, and there was a splat of blood in the nest and on the egg.
The second time it happened was today, and her egg and the nest were actually clean. However, when I went to collect eggs, I noticed she was bleeding clots out of her vent and there was blood in the run. I separated her immediately and cleaned up her vent area, then provided her with food and water. The bleeding resolved and she ate and drank normally after that.
I examined her vent and it's clear and unmarked; no signs of prolapse or pecking injury, nor have I witnessed any pecking. There is no sign of mites or lice, either. She is in the middle of the pecking order of my flock of 9. It has been excessively cold this past week and I wonder if the extreme cold combined with her just starting to come back into lay may have caused some ruptured blood vessels when she went to lay her eggs, but I am not totally sure.
I did bring her into the vet for a non-emergent visit today and she behaved like her normal self, eager for mealworm treats from the vet. They agreed her vent looks good and her x-ray didn't look abnormal. They took a clean stool sample for testing (we did test in the fall and had no parasites in the flock) and gave us an anti-inflammatory pellet to feed her for a week with a small egg withdrawal period.
Does anyone have any insight on what level of bleeding is normal vs abnormal with a ruptured blood vessel? It was pretty alarming to see her bleeding as much as she was. Now that she is cleaned up there is no sign of blood anymore, and she has not passed clots or blood at night when she roosts. I'm hoping this is just a brief anomaly that'll clear on its own, but I'm a little concerned that the bleeding was worse today than the previous time she laid an egg.
