Is this a concern or.... Rooster semen? 😅

[PlotTwistPoultry]

So I got this egg this morning. Almost thought it was bloody at first (maybe it is?) My next thought was the calcium build up that can happen, but it can be scraped off. The longer lines aren't cracks, so I'm presuming they're feather barbs/barbules.
My final thought, then, was did I just scratch off my rooster's semen?

I included a picture of it next to the other eggs, because all the ones in the middle row were collected from the same box, so it's not that the nesting box is dirty.

I just want to make sure that this isn't something I may need to go around checking butts for potential health issues. All of my hens are acting normal, but from the egg color, I can at least rule out roughly 8-10 of the 14 hens.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Is it possible another egg was broken and eaten in the same box?

 

[PlotTwistPoultry]

Is it possible another egg was broken and eaten in the same box?

No egg shells/signs of a broken and eaten egg.
This was the nesting box it came from, along with at least 4 others this morning. (Ignore Ms. Quasi, she was curious if I had treats lol)

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

My chickens used to be very good at hiding their crimes. I would only find it when I lifted up the pad. Maybe someone else knows if it’s chicken semen I’ve never seen it so I wouldn’t know

 

[nuthatched]

It's not semen, just egg

 

[PlotTwistPoultry]

Man, I really hope I don't have an egg eater. That's a sentence to the freezer around here. I'll be sure to inspect more thoroughly from now on.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Man, I really hope I don't have an egg eater. That's a sentence to the freezer around here. I'll be sure to inspect more thoroughly from now on.

I wouldn’t start choppin heads for this. My last flock had this issue and the weirdest thing cured it. I dried and crushed their egg shells and fed it back to them in the dish I used for oyster shells. They would always stop abruptly. I have a hypothesis that the calcium in the egg shell is more easily digested/utilized than oyster shell. What kind of feed are you using?

 

[PlotTwistPoultry]

I wouldn’t start choppin heads for this. My last flock had this issue and the weirdest thing cured it. I dried and crushed their egg shells and fed it back to them in the dish I used for oyster shells. They would always stop abruptly. I have a hypothesis that the calcium in the egg shell is more easily digested/utilized than oyster shell. What kind of feed are you using?

Using a local 16% protein layer feed with oyster shell always available and they also get backyard range time.

My aunt, who's had chickens for decades, is absolutely confident that it is, in fact, just a bloody egg. Given the color of the egg, I'm fairly positive I know who laid it and her last egg was pullet sized. So I'm wondering if the increased size made it a bit difficult to lay.

I also went in and scoured the coop, including lifting up nesting pads, and there's absolutely zero sign of an egg having been broken and eaten.

Regardless, I'll be keeping an eye on them to make sure everything is how it should be. I'll keep in mind the egg shell tip if it happens again. I'll do a quick add and say that all of the egg shells are pretty solid/firm, so I'd be scratching my head if they felt the need to go above and beyond for supplementing.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

My guess is somebody laid a shell-less egg and it got eaten, but the subject egg laid in it enough to get messy.