Are these meat spots? Aging hen...

[ilovgemi]

Hello, I've had this one ameraucana hen named Thai since May 2012 (3 1/2 years). She was raised under a broody hen from a little egg. Recently I have noticed large caches of blood with hard lumps in the albumen of her eggs. I've read around the internet and found that this is sometimes a symptom for hens going out of laying. I am wondering if this is the case? I have purchased a wormer and plan on using it tomorrow based on the small chance that this is worm related. I'm really hoping someone can help me come to a solid conclusion on what is causing these spots to appear. thanks!:cd

 

[junebuggena]

Yes, that's a meat spot. It's not caused by age, or worms. It's just something that happens occasionally, and is not a cause for concern.

 

[ilovgemi]

@junebuggena

I'm just worried because this has been happening consistently over the past few weeks and she has decreased her laying quite drastically. There was a particularity gruesome meat spot that I found last week that I was very concerned about (but me being me I forgot to take a picture)

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a welsummer that laid normal eggs, and one day started laying eggs with a lot of blood in the albumen. Many have said that it is from a burst blood vessel in the oviduct as the egg is forming. She laid bloody eggs for 6 months and eventually stopped laying altogether at the rip eold age of 18 months, never laying again. You can do a search at the top of the page for blood in albumen, and find a page full of threads with pictures.

 

[ilovgemi]

@Eggcessive

Thanks! I will make sure to do that. Your welsummer was healthy despite this?

 

[junebuggena]

@junebuggena

I'm just worried because this has been happening consistently over the past few weeks and she has decreased her laying quite drastically. There was a particularity gruesome meat spot that I found last week that I was very concerned about (but me being me I forgot to take a picture)

It's also normal for a hen over 3 years of age to slow down production. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, it's heading into winter and it's time for seasonal molting. It's also very normal for hens to stop laying all together at this time of year.