Bloody nesting box

[Claudine19]

Hi everyone!

Today I went to feed the girls and get the eggs from the nesting box. That's when I noticed some blood next to some of the eggs. Weirdly there was no bloody eggs and none of my ten hens had blood on their feathers. I'm a bit worried since that has never happened in the three years I've had chickens. Theres three new hens in the coop for winter and I'm wondering if it could be caused by stress since my chickens can be bullies sometimes?

Any guess?

Thank you for the help

 

[azygous]

Have you ever seen your hens trying to crowd into the nest box when another hen is already in there? It can get testy. Tempers can get triggered.

Some years ago, I happened to be going by the coop when I heard a commotion in the favorite nest box. I stuck my head in for a quick peek. Three hens and a rooster were in the nest all fighting over it. I went on to finish my chores, and when I came back, they were still going at it.

I decided enough, and I kicked them all out of the nest. The walls and the nesting shavings were all splattered with blood. I checked all the chickens for wounds, and saw only some comb nicks. That was enough to produce enough blood to make it appear there had been a blood bath as combs bleed a lot when injured.

Check over the combs in your flock. I bet you'll find evidence of a nest fight similar to what I described.

 

[Pierre duck drake]

Can you check the toes and and comb for blood? Somtimes their toes get pecked off.

 

[God Gardening and Geese]

Hi everyone!

Today I went to feed the girls and get the eggs from the nesting box. That's when I noticed some blood next to some of the eggs. Weirdly there was no bloody eggs and none of my ten hens had blood on their feathers. I'm a bit worried since that has never happened in the three years I've had chickens. Theres three new hens in the coop for winter and I'm wondering if it could be caused by stress since my chickens can be bullies sometimes?

Any guess?

Thank you for the help

When a hen lays an egg the oval gets so big it will rupture out of the follicle and drop into the area where either it'll have an encounter with the male's sperm and be fertilized or it will pass through without being fertilized and just be an egg, it is also this area where salmonella gets into the egg which is why it's important to make sure we cook our eggs and wash our hands after collecting them or handling birds in general. And this is also where blood can get in the yolk. I noticed you said you didn't have any blood in any of your eggs however I'm wondering if any of the eggs had any blood residue or traces on it at all? I'm wondering if maybe it was going through the process of egg creation and it may be the rupturing of the follicle when the oval dropped out... maybe it was a little more intense and the blood was coming out of the bird with the egg. If so did you notice any blood on any of the eggs? I would crack open the latest eggs if any had blood on the shells to see if there's any blood in the yolk and if so that might support the theory of a ruptured follicle that is a little more intense than it should be hence the blood, in which case makes me wonder if it's a serious internal concern.

Just a thought. I'm no vet nor expert in the field however I know a little and using that trying to help. Hope shes okay and u can get to the bottom of this. God bless and happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Pierre duck drake]

Sorry I meant toe nail their toes would not get pecked off!