Help me understand if I have a broody hen or if she might be sick?

[KirstenRichter]

Over the past 2 weeks I have had an egg filled with blood, a rubber egg and after opening a boiled egg tonight it was clear that it was full of blood- the albumen was brown. I know who has laid this egg- she is a Buff O and has been acting very strange for 2 days now. Last night when I went to put the girls to bed she was in a nesting box on the ground and had not gone to roost with her sisters as always. This morning she shot right back into that nesting box and stayed in it until I took her out and put her in the yard. Once she was out there she was drinking and pecking with the rest of the flock. Tonight she went back into the nesting box and I again had to take her out- she kind of hissed at me or growled. Not happy about me moving her. She took a drink of water- as I ushered her to the hen house and when I wasn't looking she bolted back to the nesting box.

What do you think is going on here?

I forgot to mention that when my Buffs came to me one of my boys gave them a baseball in the nesting box as a welcome gift. Only the BO's lay their eggs next to it everyday. She has been sitting in that nesting box with the baseball. I moved it into another box to see what would happen--

Feeling a little worried.

Thank You,

 

[Higins00]

Hi, those are some signs to me of being broody. Do you have a roo? If she sat on her fertilized egg for a day or two you can get blood in a egg, but if you have no roo then I would asume something is wrong. I can't help you with that but maybe someone else can.

 

[KirstenRichter]

No rooster to speak of...

 

[Zenbirder]

When my BO goes broody she makes a sound besides growling, she only makes this sound when she is broody and it is not quite like anything else. It is a low tone, regularly paced "cluck, cluck". Is your BO making a noise like this that she has not made before?

 

[jjthink]

How old is she?
Observe her eating, drinking and pooping as closely as possible and note your findings. To do this you may have to separate her - if she would be too stressed alone in your house, is there a way to separate her in her current surroundings, so that she can see everything going on and be seen, but so that her bodily functions are separate from that of others?
Personally, all that blood and rubber egg do not sound good to me. I worry about something ruptured inside.
What is her diet? Is oyster shell available 24/7?
Can an avian vet possibly see her if need be?
JJ

 

[KirstenRichter]

She is a bit over a year. They free range in my yard in the day and I give them an organic pellet- oyster shells are available 24/7 in their run/dining area. I tried to watch her poop last night and it looked like a 'shart' just a little came out. I am going to go and look near the area of her roost to see what is there poopwise. Took close note to where I put her to bed and she was in that spot when I opened the doors this morning.

Thank you all of you who are taking interest in this topic. And yes, her tone, the 'growl' was not something I have heard. She did move into the other nesting box where I switched the baseball to last night. The bloody eggs are a large concern. I will check to see if there is a poultry vet around here.

Kirsten