First egg, now nothing

[Cheekygreek]

We have 9 chickens that are 20 weeks old. A week ago we got our first egg from one of the EE's. There hasn't been any more since. Is this normal in the beginning of egg laying? I did notice a little bit of blood on the eggshell too.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We have 9 chickens that are 20 weeks old. A week ago we got our first egg from one of the EE's. There hasn't been any more since. Is this normal in the beginning of egg laying? I did notice a little bit of blood on the eggshell too.

The onset of production comes with stops and starts and all sorts of oddities in between -- there are a lot of "moving parts" involved with building and expelling an egg, getting them all working together, in sync, can take weeks. A little blood on the outside of an egg (or even the inside) of an egg is not anything to be overly concerned about if it happens now and again - blood on the outside of an egg is generally a matter of one of the many vessels in the vent area becoming a little too stretched/strained during expulsion. Here's a photo that shows just how easily that can happen:


Are your birds confined to a coop and run 24/7? Have you thoroughly checked all areas to be sure there are no "hidden" eggs? It's important to remember that the first eggs can be quite small and easily missed in such checks.

 

[Cheekygreek]

Thanks for the info. For the last few weeks they have been confined 24/7 to their coop/run.