Bloody eggs?

[ElysianAcres]

We've had an unusual amount of blood-covered eggs popping up in the nest boxes this week. We will usually get the occasional bloody egg from a new layer or if it's abnormally large, but we've been getting them that look like this all week, from different hens. It is possible that one or two are first eggs since I'm not exactly sure which birds laid them, but some for sure are not first eggs, and they are small. I haven't had a chance to go in at night to inspect all of their vents, but does anyone have any ideas about what might be going on? I have not noticed any vent pecking going on, but I'm not with them all day long.
FYI, we have 24 laying hens, and we've been getting 3-4 that look like this every day.

 

[StephensonC]

You are right. It can sometimes be seen in new layers. But for the ones that aren't, be sure to inspect their vents for lice or mites/lice or mites eggs. Keep in mind that the red mites only come out at night to feed on your hens. They live in the cracks of wood in your coop and on their roosting bars during the day. Here is a link to help you determine if this is the case.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html


There are other possibilities, that I'm not that familiar with. Hopefully, someone else will come along with more help and ideas.

Good luck