# Bloody Combs/Beaks



## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

Today my brother went out to see the chickens and came back telling me that they were bloody. I went out to have a look.
The very tip of Petal's beak is chipped and there is some dried blood on it. The point where her little comb starts to join with her beak is a blood spot. Wigwam's beak tip is chipped and a little bloody also. The back of his comb has a few spots of dried blood and, like petal, the beak/comb joining spot is bloody. The beak/comb joining area was the only open wound on both of them, so my brother did 4 light sprays of Vetericyn Poultry each. I don't know if that's too much, but I will see what happens.
The odd thing is, Petal and Wigwam are my most dominant chickens. Especially the little roo...why would he be injured? After my brother put on the Vetericyn, they were standing kind of half crouched in the back of the coop, silent. When I went to pick up Wigwam, who usually gives a little bit of a struggle, he didn't really move. He looked healthy in all other aspects, though.
I may get some anti-pick spray so Atari and Raisin don't peck at them, even though they are the lower two in the pecking order.
My question is, what would cause these injuries? They have a nice coop surrounded with hardware cloth.
I may have to mention the crazy thing that happened the other day, though.
Wigwam got out of the run while I was cleaning it, and the pullets followed. I went to catch him a bit later, and he ran super fast away from me. Not unusual, but he seemed oddly terrified. I finally pinned him aganist the outside wall of the coop and when I grabbed him, he SCREAMED. I instantly let go and he took off into the bushes and kept screeching - it sounded like the egg song of a hen...bok bok bok bok SQAWK!!! I went and grabbed the treat bag which he loves and shook it and called him. He continued to screech. I finally got him to run back into the coop by himself, and then I went to catch him.
HE. WENT. CRAZY. Screaming and freaking out, he smashed into the hardware cloth, slamming and scratching it with his feet. He was shaking the whole darn coop! I tried to calm him but he went beserk - running around the coop as fast as he could, yelling all the way. I finally snatched him up firmly, and he went limp. His pupils went back to normal size. Back to normal Wigs. I fed him his corn and mealworm mix, and he calmed down a bit.
It was pretty hard to catch the hens, too, but they weren't as crazy.
What the heck happened? Testosterone boost?
Anyways, I'm thinking during that, maybe he got those blood spots on the back of his comb, because those were there the day after.
I have no idea. Let me know why Wigwam went crazy and why he and Petal have injuries.
Pictures in a minute.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Something is wrong with your description, the comb does not meet the beak. Wattles come closer. A pic would clear things up.

As far as Wigwam, he considered you a predator and you scared the bejesus out of him chasing him around. Roosters are very sensitive to how we approach them. The moment they think we're a threat they come unglued if they can't get away.

If it happens again, once he's in the coop/run area just leave him be for a while.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

robin416 said:


> Something is wrong with your description, the comb does not meet the beak. Wattles come closer. A pic would clear things up.
> 
> As far as Wigwam, he considered you a predator and you scared the bejesus out of him chasing him around. Roosters are very sensitive to how we approach them. The moment they think we're a threat they come unglued if they can't get away.
> 
> If it happens again, once he's in the coop/run area just leave him be for a while.


Going to get pics now.
And yes, I think that me running after him very quickly scared him a lot.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

robin416 said:


> Something is wrong with your description, the comb does not meet the beak. Wattles come closer. A pic would clear things up.
> 
> As far as Wigwam, he considered you a predator and you scared the bejesus out of him chasing him around. Roosters are very sensitive to how we approach them. The moment they think we're a threat they come unglued if they can't get away.
> 
> If it happens again, once he's in the coop/run area just leave him be for a while.


Sorry that that front shot of Wigwam is blurry. 
He acted pretty limp when I picked him up, and he kept squinting/closing his eyes. I also noticed him trembling quite a bit. I'm worried! Is he in pain or is he just relaxed?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That looks like someone stuck their head where it didn't belong. Not done by another bird. 

BTW, vetericyn is not all that. It's basically watered down bleach. I'm sure you have antibiotic ointment which would be the preferred topical to use. You also do not want to get the vetericyn in the eyes, it would be extremely painful and might do damage.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I would say give him antibiotics and ointment. He's been traumatized. Make sure he eats or tube him. 
Sorry it happened. I'm just getting over my unknown caused bitten up face.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

As far as the chipped beaks go, they might have trouble picking/pecking feed to eat. Consider providing them their feed mixed with water in a bowl for them to eat, like a gruel. It'll be easier for them to eat and painless. Feed them the watery gruel for a couple of weeks, this will give time for the beak to heal.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

seminolewind said:


> I would say give him antibiotics and ointment. He's been traumatized. Make sure he eats or tube him.
> Sorry it happened. I'm just getting over my unknown caused bitten up face.


Traumatized? Oh no! I picked him up today and he still clucked softly and when I talk to him (I cluck to him too) he talks back. He wanders around outside the coop but inside it he seems kinda misty...head in the clouds kinda thing. He squats next to petal. Also, I found animal scat next to the coop...do you think something scared them or what? I'm worried...I don't want him to be scared.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

robin416 said:


> That looks like someone stuck their head where it didn't belong. Not done by another bird.
> 
> BTW, vetericyn is not all that. It's basically watered down bleach. I'm sure you have antibiotic ointment which would be the preferred topical to use. You also do not want to get the vetericyn in the eyes, it would be extremely painful and might do damage.


Oh, I see. I will try to keep both of them out of trouble. I found animal scat by the coop, and maybe it scared them so they hit something? Like seminolewind said, is my boy and petal traumitized? They seemed pretty misty today. the other chickens seemed fine, however. 
And...my brother sprayed the vetericyn and I wasn't there, so maybe that's why poor Wigs was pretty squinty and droopy today. I'll have to find out.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Just stand back and watch. Too often people jump in with both feet and make things worse when all they need is some time. They're young birds, what happened yesterday was traumatic and if there was something outside of their pen they were already upset. 

If it makes you feel better put a dab of ointment on the bloody spot and unless it looks like someone is pecking at the blood, leave them be. Ask your dad about the ABC's. Airway, breathing, circulation. All of those things are intact, they are not comatose, they are up and moving around, eating, drinking doing what chickens do. Don't look for a problem where none exists.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

If you can,identify what critter left poop by your pen.Your state's Dept of Natural Resources can help you with that.Mine even sent me a pamphlet with pictures of mammals that included their footprints and poop.Racoons are good for getting in places that are secure,leaving turds and they will kill your chickens and wash up in the chicken water.Maybe it scared your chickens at night when they couldn't see and they beat themselves up in the coop trying to "get away".


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

chickenqueen said:


> If you can,identify what critter left poop by your pen.Your state's Dept of Natural Resources can help you with that.Mine even sent me a pamphlet with pictures of mammals that included their footprints and poop.Racoons are good for getting in places that are secure,leaving turds and they will kill your chickens and wash up in the chicken water.Maybe it scared your chickens at night when they couldn't see and they beat themselves up in the coop trying to "get away".


Ok. I looked up fox and raccoon poop and the scat by the coop didn't really match. I actually think it may be my visiting neighbor's dog. The poop is not fresh; it's been there for some time now. I think maybe because Petal and Wigwam are pretty skittish and feisty that they may have gotten a little banged up over something yesterday and that's why they were injured. When I scared Wigwam by chasing him, that was 3 days ago. The next day he wasn't "misty" as I call it, but the day he got his injuries, which was yesterday, that's when he started being a little foggy. This morning I headed out there, and he was a lot more talkative. I fed he and Petal some corn/mealworm treats, and they ate it right up. They pecked a little softer, I noticed, most likely due to the chipped beaks. Wigwam was still a little shaky today, but he was acting more normal than yesterday.  He and Petal's wounds also looked a little better today. No pecking from Atari or Raisin. I think they will both heal up nicely.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

robin416 said:


> Just stand back and watch. Too often people jump in with both feet and make things worse when all they need is some time. They're young birds, what happened yesterday was traumatic and if there was something outside of their pen they were already upset.
> 
> If it makes you feel better put a dab of ointment on the bloody spot and unless it looks like someone is pecking at the blood, leave them be. Ask your dad about the ABC's. Airway, breathing, circulation. All of those things are intact, they are not comatose, they are up and moving around, eating, drinking doing what chickens do. Don't look for a problem where none exists.


All right. I haven't applied more Vetericyn since my brother did yesterday. 
I doubt the "scat" I found was any wild animal. I looked up fox and raccoon poop. The poop didn't match. I'm pretty sure it was either one of my dogs or my neighbor's. My dogs are nice to the chickens, though. The poop was also not fresh.
I haven't seen any of my chickens eat or drink, but that's because I'm at school all day and when I do get home, I free range them for a bit so they don't return to the coop to eat or drink. I know they are though or else they would be starving/dehydrated.
Wigwam and Petal's wounds looked better today, so I think with a little bit of time they will be back to normal.
I fed them some treats, and they pecked a little lighter than usual because of their barely chipped beaks, but other than that, nobody is pecking at their injuries.
Wigwam was still a little shaky in my arms today, but he is getting back to his old, talkative self.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

dawg53 said:


> As far as the chipped beaks go, they might have trouble picking/pecking feed to eat. Consider providing them their feed mixed with water in a bowl for them to eat, like a gruel. It'll be easier for them to eat and painless. Feed them the watery gruel for a couple of weeks, this will give time for the beak to heal.


Their beaks aren't broken, but they are barely chipped at the very tip. They are eating the treats that I give them fine, just a little bit softer pecking than usual. I think it will be ok, but if I notice either one being a little lethargic from lack of food, I will make some gruel for them.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I usually go by if they look better each day or worse. I spray my coop down with Virkon, which is like an all bacteria/viral killer for livestock.


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## Nm156 (May 16, 2015)

Some hens don't like roosters and will have nothing to do with them.


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## Wigwam7 (Mar 29, 2017)

Nm156 said:


> Some hens don't like roosters and will have nothing to do with them.


Yeah, my pullets are nuetral towards Wigwam. The other day a butterfly flew overhead while they were dust bathing and big boy Wigwam herded them together and flattened them to the ground and circled them. How protective!


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