Broken eggs with blood, please HELP!

[Sparklypants]

Hi everybody
I am looking for advice and help. When cleaning out my chicken coop I found something strange in the shavings It was long and red. After I looked closer it appears to be a broken egg with blood. I can see no yolk anywhere. I realized that this has happened before when cleaning I found what I thought was white tape on a roosting bar, now I realized it was probably this same thing a broken egg, there was no yolk or blood in this one. I am unsure if the eggs break when they are coming out or if they are breaking inside and she pushes it out, could she still lay if it was broken. She goes in the egg layer to lay eggs but I am finding these in the shavings so I know they are coming out when she is on a roosting bar.

The chicken is eating and acting normal but I saw a previous post that said if the egg breaks inside they die so now I am panicking!!

What causes this to happen? She has scratch and peck layer feed, oyster shell and fresh water everyday. What can I do to help her and prevent it from happening again. I know for sure it has happened at least twice the first time maybe a month ago.

 

[Lillith37]

If it was laid on the roost, it may have broken upon landing and then they may have eaten the insides.

If your hen is still acting normally I wouldn’t worry about her dying. You can do a visual check on her vent for any sign of shell or egg yolk. Also keep an eye out to check her poop.

You can give a calcium supplement which may help prevent the occurrence of these. Are the shells on her eggs usually hard or are they brittle?

Don’t give her too much scratch/treats. Have her eat mostly her proper food. You can also try mixing the layer feed with a starter or grower feed to up their protein.

Egg abnormalities such as soft shelled eggs can be a random once off but they can also be a warning sign for reproductive disease. If your hen has laid soft shelled eggs twice in the past month… do have access to a vet? There is a contraceptive implant called deslorin/suprelorin that stops a chicken laying and is a preventative treatment for reproductive disease.

 

[aart]

She has scratch and peck layer feed

Is it a pellet or crumble or cracked grain formulation?
How old is this bird, in months?

 

[Sparklypants]

If it was laid on the roost, it may have broken upon landing and then they may have eaten the insides.

If your hen is still acting normally I wouldn’t worry about her dying. You can do a visual check on her vent for any sign of shell or egg yolk. Also keep an eye out to check her poop.

You can give a calcium supplement which may help prevent the occurrence of these. Are the shells on her eggs usually hard or are they brittle?

Don’t give her too much scratch/treats. Have her eat mostly her proper food. You can also try mixing the layer feed with a starter or grower feed to up their protein.

Egg abnormalities such as soft shelled eggs can be a random once off but they can also be a warning sign for reproductive disease. If your hen has laid soft shelled eggs twice in the past month… do have access to a vet? There is a contraceptive implant called deslorin/suprelorin that stops a chicken laying and is a preventative treatment for reproductive disease.

thank you this is helpful, it's weird that she laid it on the roosting bar because she always goes into the egg layer. in fact, I saw her in there this morning but then this afternoon there was no egg and when I was cleaning I found the broken egg as pictured so I don't know if this was from today or over the weekend. When you say treats what do you mean, I let her free range for a part of the day and she has access to food the kids drop from, mostly fruit but other things too. I usually give a handful of grubs to get back into the coop at the end of the day I thought that was good for protein, is this okay to do? The chickens live at a school where I work, they are not paying for vet bills unfortunatly.

 

[Lillith37]

thank you this is helpful, it's weird that she laid it on the roosting bar because she always goes into the egg layer. in fact, I saw her in there this morning but then this afternoon there was no egg and when I was cleaning I found the broken egg as pictured so I don't know if this was from today or over the weekend. When you say treats what do you mean, I let her free range for a part of the day and she has access to food the kids drop from, mostly fruit but other things too. I usually give a handful of grubs to get back into the coop at the end of the day I thought that was good for protein, is this okay to do? The chickens live at a school where I work, they are not paying for vet bills unfortunatly.

When the eggs are soft-shelled it is harder for the hen to pass. Whenever my hens have laid soft-shelled eggs they are usually on the roost or randomly in the yard somewhere. So it's not so strange that she didn't produce anything in the nest box but you found it elsewhere.

That's unfortunate that the school won't cover vet bills. Perhaps you can still provide a calcium supplement as supportive care.

A chicken should only get 10% of her diet through treats like food scraps, fruit, mealworms etc. They need their proper balance of macro nutrients which they get from their main feed. So make sure the kids aren't overdoing it, it could turn into a good learning experience for them?

 

[Sparklypants]

Is it a pellet or crumble or cracked grain formulation?
How old is this bird, in months?

cracked grain, she is about 6 years old maybe 7?

 

[Sparklypants]

When the eggs are soft-shelled it is harder for the hen to pass. Whenever my hens have laid soft-shelled eggs they are usually on the roost or randomly in the yard somewhere. So it's not so strange that she didn't produce anything in the nest box but you found it elsewhere.

That's unfortunate that the school won't cover vet bills. Perhaps you can still provide a calcium supplement as supportive care.

A chicken should only get 10% of her diet through treats like food scraps, fruit, mealworms etc. They need their proper balance of macro nutrients which they get from their main feed. So make sure the kids aren't overdoing it, it could turn into a good learning experience for them?

so calcium as well as oyster shell?

 

[Lillith37]

so calcium as well as oyster shell?

I would, at least for a little while to help her expel anything that may remain in her system.

How are her egg shells when she lays normal eggs? If they are brittle then the extra calcium won’t hurt. You’ll know if/when she has excess calcium because the shells will have calcium deposits on them. That’s when you should stop the extra supplement.

 

[Sparklypants]

so calcium as well as oyster shell?

Can you suggest something or just a regular calcium powder?

 

[aart]

cracked grain, she is about 6 years old maybe 7?

Best to soak or ferment cracked grain feeds, so the fines(vitamins/minerals/amino acids) get eaten.
Could be her age and/or slowing of egg production due to shortening days(if you live in the northern hemisphere).