Help! Bloody eggs?

[yodelinginca]

We have one hen, 1yr old Brown Leghorn, who is regularly laying bloody eggs. Sometimes it's just a small bit, sometimes it looks like this (picture left). It's been a month and all but 2 of her eggs have been bloody. She doesn't seemed stressed (though she does sometimes make this weird T Rex sort of sound instead of her usual "car that won't start" bubble/cluck). Diet we have a layer crumble available all day, and we feed the morning & evening chicken scratch (1cup for flock of 5), mealworms (1/4 cup), and fresh greens (about 1/4-1/2 gallon). They also have oyster shell in their pen. They are not free range birds.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

 

[Mvan42]

I had one similar a while back. Following

 

[rosemarythyme]

Wow, I've seen a few photos like that, but don't think I've ever seen an explanation for it, but if you can identify her eggs I definitely wouldn't be eating them or even cracking them.

 

[yodelinginca]

She's our only white-egg layer, so yeah- pretty easy to ID hers.

 

[aart]

We have one hen, 1yr old Brown Leghorn, who is regularly laying bloody eggs. Sometimes it's just a small bit, sometimes it looks like this (picture left). It's been a month and all but 2 of her eggs have been bloody. She doesn't seemed stressed (though she does sometimes make this weird T Rex sort of sound instead of her usual "car that won't start" bubble/cluck). Diet we have a layer crumble available all day, and we feed the morning & evening chicken scratch (1cup for flock of 5), mealworms (1/4 cup), and fresh greens (about 1/4-1/2 gallon). They also have oyster shell in their pen. They are not free range birds.

Excellent post with all pertinent information!

Something's off in her little egg making machine.
Would be nice to see the egg in a white dish.
Did anything happen or change when this started?
Is she low bird and maybe getting picked on?
Springtime gets the hormones flowing and things can get chaotic,
How much space do they have?
Dimensions and pics might help here.
Diet sounds decent but you could try giving nothing but the layer feed for a couple-few weeks to see if anything changes.
Chances are she's got a funky ovary that bleeds every time an ova is released,
don't think it can be 'fixed'.

I think it's explained in this excellent video, which is worth watching regardless:

 

[yodelinginca]

Thanks for the tips! As far as I can tell, she's not getting picked on. Her eggs were fine last spring and she was one of our most consistent layers. The 5 of them have a 4x6 coop, and a 10ishx6ish run. We were hoping to add in another 4x6 area this spring, but finances are tight so not sure when we'll be able to afford lumber now. Oh- we're also giving them a hen probiotic (Hen Boost) in their water.

 

[yodelinginca]

She did go through a pretty good molt last winter.

 

[aart]

This Hen Boost?
Do they also have plain water always available?
No reason to give that stuff all the time.
Too much EL is not good for them,
and there is probably adequate probiotics and vitamins in the feed.

 

[yodelinginca]

Yep, that's the one.