Help identifying bloody mess in coop

[Sean Briggs]

My wife went into the coop and found a bloody mucus/egg white like pile near the corner. I am hoping someone here knows what it is and whether we need to do something right away. All the girls look and act healthy and they just started laying about a week ago.

Any idea what this is? Thanks in advance!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@Wyorp Rock
@Eggcessive
@aart
@ChickenCanoe

Can any of you identify this or have any suggestions what this might be?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

they just started laying about a week ago.

bloody mucus/egg white

Welcome To BYC
What do you feed?
Do you provide oyster shell free choice?

Likely the shell was soft and someone ate that. With new layers sometimes you may see some blood. I would keep watch to see if one seems off for a few days.

 

[Sean Briggs]

We feed Bar M Flockraiser or Purina Flockraiser and we normally give them egg layer grit that is ground limestone and says it is about 30-45% calcium. We were out of the grit for a little less than a week.

Do you think we need oyster shell as well?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Limestone should be fine.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Grit is for digestion. It goes into the gizzard and grinds food. Oyster shell is for making strong shells. Laying hens need both.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oops, sorry. @Wyorp Rock is far more knowledgeable than I. I missed that about the limestone.

 

[Sean Briggs]

If it is an egg, does anyone have any tips for preventing future egg eating. I would prefer to prevent or nip the problem in the bud.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If it is an egg, does anyone have any tips for preventing future egg eating. I would prefer to prevent or nip the problem in the bud.

I've never really had any problems with that. I do keep ceramic eggs in the coop/nesting boxes and the hens learned those are too hard to "crack".
A soft shell or a membrane looks different than a normal hard shelled egg, so they likely do not even associate the 2.