Duck laid soft, crumbly, bloody egg - what is this?!

[WVduckchick]

That dark yolk would scare me!

The other Educators have offered wise advice, and are much more versed than I am about reproductive and internal issues, so i can’t add anything more there. But I am curious - do you think the original egg from the start of this thread was actually laid that way, or could the ducks have done that to it later?

 

[azygous]

That dark yolk would scare me!

The other Educators have offered wise advice, and are much more versed than I am about reproductive and internal issues, so i can’t add anything more there. But I am curious - do you think the original egg from the start of this thread was actually laid that way, or could the ducks have done that to it later?

Definitely cracked much too uniformly in an overall mosaic pattern to have been cracked later by duck action. That this duck is now behaving as if it never happened is a marvel and even perplexing, although no one is unhappy she feeling much better now.

I've perused older threads and acorns definitely are responsible for green yolks, but they've never hurt anyone who's eaten them. The high amount of tannins in acorns, however, aren't good for poultry. I would try to keep the acorns on the ground to a minimum by raking them up.

 

[WVduckchick]

Definitely cracked much too uniformly in an overall mosaic pattern to have been cracked later by duck action. That this duck is now behaving as if it never happened is a marvel and even perplexing, although no one is unhappy she feeling much better now.

I had a broody duck roll eggs around and the cracks eventually turned out like that. And it’s just beyond my comprehension that it came out of the body like that! I guess my lack of experience is showing, or I’ve just been very fortunate with my ducks.
Definitely glad the one in question is feeling much better. Odd indeed!

 

[Eggcessive]

I had a chicken once who laid an egg with bloody albumen occasionally, at first, then every egg, and eventually stopped laying altogether. I assumed it was some problem with her oviduct. I would wonder if your duck had an egg like that, and it got rolled all around then the blood leeched into the shell?

 

[Eggcessive]

I forgot to include this picture of Aart’s which was like the one I had, but cannot seem to post:

 

[WVduckchick]

I forgot to include this picture of Aart’s which was like the one I had, but cannot seem to post:
View attachment 1660158

Ewww! Scary.

 

[azygous]

A couple of times, I've had an egg customer mention to me they had found a "totally bloody" yolk in an egg one of my hens had laid. They didn't think to save it to show me, though, and I never noticed any hen during that period being "off" in any way. I guess it happens, and it can not be a big deal.

 

[Eggcessive]

When my hen was doing it with each egg, I always had to keep the 2 welsummers eggs for myself, since I always shared them with family and friends. When she stopped laying it was almost a relief, because those sure can turn your stomach. I collected them and cooked them just for the chickens. That is the good thing about having different colored eggs.

 

[Duck Diva]

It was absolutely freshly laid, blood not even dry. Blood was on the outside, none on the inside that I could see. They never lay out in the yard (which is where I found it, sitting on a patch of grass covered with blood). I’d been out the with the kids earlier in the evening and it wasn’t there.

Cona (that’s her name) seems to still be a little bit slower than the other two, maybe still feeling under the weather. Could the blood have been from those tiny sharp pieces of eggshell cutting her as the franken-egg came out?

 

[azygous]

That was my thought as well - the sharp pieces of egg shell caused minor lacerations as it came down and out. It seems that if it had caused serious injury, she wouldn't have reverted to more or less normal behavior afterward.

Now, if the egg had broken and leaked yolk into her reproductive track along with the lacerations, you'd probably be seeing signs of a very sick duck suffering from infection as the yolk is a perfect breeding medium for growing bacteria. After all, it's what they use to make some vaccines.