Laying from roost?

[ChrisBLover8]

First time chicken owner. We got 6 chicks back in August. We then decided to add 2 mature hens to go ahead and start getting eggs. (Come to find out one of those ‘hens’ turned out to be a giant beautiful Rhodebar rooster. Not sure how we missed that) anyway we got 2 eggs from the mature hen (Clarabelle) and then nothing more. It did start to get colder around that time though so we didn’t think much of it. Then I found an egg in our shed from her and we started to think she may be older than what we were told and may be done laying. So fast forward to about 3 weeks ago and all of the chicks gradually started laying (unfortunately only 5 of the 6 made it this far. A hawk took one) so we have a flock of 7 now. I think we’ve had 3 days where we got 5 eggs in the nest box. And I’m aware they won’t always lay everyday. But 2 days ago the hawk returned and actually attacked but everyone escaped with minimal injuries. We had one that lost a claw. But the past 2 mornings I’ve checked the coop, it looks like one is laying from the roost. The shells seem to be VERY thin and crack upon landing. I noticed today a pile of poo beside the egg with some blood in it. Could this be stress from the hawk attack? Or could it be the old girl, Clarabelle and her eggs just aren’t up to par anymore? And why the blood?

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Did you get a picture of the poop? It could be shed intestinal lining, which is normal and nothing to worry about .but if its actual liquid blood, that's a symptom of coccidiosis, in which case you need to get Corid (I think that's it) from a farm store to treat them. To get them laying in the boxes, put a fake egg or an eggish rock in the box till they catch on. Clarabelle is probably laying outside if you found an egg in your shed, and her eggs are probably hidden from you very well. Or it could just be age or stress, as you rightly suspected.

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @ChrisBLover8 !

Some very good points in the post above.
Pics of poop before any treatment,
always good to take pics of odd things.
'Normal' has a wide range.

Thin shell could be from one of your new layers or Clarabelle starting back up.

Stress is definitely a factor.
Be patient and observe ...take pics of weird stuff.