My hen is bleeding while laying egg

[Phyllis47]

Hi,
I'm new to the group. I'm having a problem with one of my hens. Her name is Hawkie and she is about 1 year old. She will not go in the house to nest. She is standing in the yard and pushing her egg out. I noticed she is really trying but today there was a lot of blood. She finally passed the egg and went on as normal. My husband feeds them cracked corn and layer feed. I have 13 hens and one rooster. Hawkie and another hen Speedy just started laying recently. They are all about the same age but these two where late bloomers.
I have a separate chicken yard that I will be putting her in tomorrow. Going to stop the layer feed and keep the rooster away from her to. My concern is the blood. If it had just been on the egg I wouldn't think much about it. I know it would help her if she would just go to the nest every time. I know this is not a good sign with the blood Any suggestions or help would greatly appreciated.

 

[lazy gardener]

Is it just a smear of blood on the egg, or is it a LOT of blood? A new layer, especially a late bloomer, who may lay a larger "first egg" than her sister who started laying at a much earlier age, is getting stretched out, so may break a few capillaries as the egg makes it's descent. I would eliminate the corn from their diet since it is high in fat. A chicken who has a lot of visceral fat has a much harder time laying her eggs, and that extra fat can predispose a hen to reproductive issues. Do not stop the layer feed. She needs that calcium, and if you eliminate the calcium, she will be robbing her body to supply the calcium she needs for making egg shells. Calcium is also important for the process of pushing an egg out.

 

[Phyllis47]

It was like she had been pushing so hard that the blood was dripping out on her feathers. It was a lot more than a few drops. What other feed would you suggest? I thought if I stopped the layer feed she would slow down on laying eggs. Kinda give her a break.Shows I don't know a lot about chickens. Is it normal for a chicken to stand when pushing her egg out? I've never seen this before

 

[rosemarythyme]

Layer feed has nothing to do at all with the creation of eggs in their system, it just has calcium to help with shells, so it's safe to continue feeding her that.

Not sure what to suggest about her laying difficulties, poor thing. She's probably standing up because it's been difficult for her to push the egg out. Since she only just starting laying it's going to be a little harder for her at first, but hopefully things will improve for her as her body adjusts to laying.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

All hens stand up to push the egg out. I would use corn as a treat. Too much internal fat will cause prolapse of the reproductive tract. A bit of blood can be normal especially in new layers or those starting back up. It's usually from the vent stretching out.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Mine stand up just as the egg is about the drop but are sitting down in the nest box before that. I've never had one try to lay while standing outside of the box though.