blood on eggs & nest pad

[Boppo]

I found about a tablespoon's worth of blood on the nest pad and all over 2 of the eggs today. I have 3 hens but up til now only 2 have been laying. They are 12 months old, but the laggard hen hurt her leg. I figured that was holding her back from laying. I am not sure that the 3rd egg is hers, but it's slightly different colored from other 2 eggs. The egg that had the most blood on it was almost certainly from my Golden Comet who has been laying right along, and acts like she feels fine. The one hen who does not act fine is the laggard hen, who has been limping about with her tail drooping for about a week. Is this an emergency? or is it just how some hens start laying?

 

[Tonyroo]

Identify who's actually is bleeding, you need to physically exam there rear for blood.

And no it's not normal.

You also need to feel the texture of the egg, if it's grainy they need more calcium in there diet.

 

[coach723]

Sometimes a blood vessel can break while laying and there will be a small amount of blood, that is usually not a worry. Your description sounds like it may be more than that, but seeing blood is subjective, what one person thinks is a little, another may think is a lot. I would check all of them and make sure there is no active bleeding, no vent injuries, etc. And if that's the case then keep an eye on them for any other issues. With no definite ID of which bird it might have come from it's hard to say if it's the one acting off, or one of the others.

 

[Boppo]

Thank you both. I have looked for damaged vents and everybody seems OK. They all have a bit of poop on their back feathers, but no sign of bleeding. They all act as if they feel normal.

The eggs on the nest pad were perfectly normal. I usually get 2 eggs most days. This day was 3 eggs. I have one hen, as I said, who has not been laying. I have had one other 3 egg day. On both of these days, there were 2 eggs of the tints I always get from my 2 regular layers. But on both of these days, the 3rd egg was slightly different, a paler brown than my Golden Comet lays, and a darker tan than my AustraWhite lays. In both cases, I assumed that my laggard hen, a Buckeye, had finally chipped in with an egg.

There has been no blood since, and even the laggard, limping Buckeye seems to be feeling better. Maybe the egg was uncomfortable on the way out? I've never laid an egg, but I know that female hormones do sometimes cause discomfort in my own life. I'm relieved that everybody seems OK, and glad that my Buckeye lady seems to feel better. I really thought she was on her way out.

 

[coach723]

As a new layer, they can sometimes have glitches, so she may have been trying to lay that egg. Hopefully things will get in sync and she'll have no further problems. Even a long time layer may occasionally break a blood vessel, it happens. I would just keep an eye on her for a bit. Hopefully all is well.

 

[Boppo]

Thank you so much! There has not been a repeat, so I hope this is all it amounts to. thanks to everybody!