Poop on egg - and recently occasionally blood...

[Bodhisan]

Two of my hens are blue production, 2 years old. One of them, for months if not for as long as she's been laying, has poop on her egg about 1/3 to 1/2 the time she lays - otherwise, perfectly clear of poo. Recently, though, a couple of times, instead of poop, there's been a bit of blood. I just saw some speckled blood on my other BP's egg today, but she's never had poop on an egg. The poop isn't like a smear; it's like someone took a putty knife and slathered some on the side - and it is just one side, either the top part or bottom (I don't know).

There is no blood in any of their droppings on the board or outside.

I know this isn't good, but is it bad, and is there anything I can do to prevent any future issues that could turn serious?

 

[aart]

Pics of soiled eggs, please.

Are these eggs laid in the nests?
Are they sleeping in the nests?

 

[Bodhisan]

Pics of soiled eggs, please.

Are these eggs laid in the nests?
Are they sleeping in the nests?

I'll have to take a picture of a poop egg next time it happens, as I always clean off the majority of poop with a twig at the nesting box. I have included a photo of my second BP's egg from today - the spots have darkened, but they were reddish upon retrieval and wash off. However, the spots are unlike the blood that has appeared twice on the one who poops out with her egg - hers is more of a smear of blood instead of spots.

They do lay in the nests but have never slept in the nests.

 

[aart]

I'll have to take a picture of a poop egg next time it happens, as I always clean off the majority of poop with a twig at the nesting box. I have included a photo of my second BP's egg from today - the spots have darkened, but they were reddish upon retrieval and wash off. However, the spots are unlike the blood that has appeared twice on the one who poops out with her egg - hers is more of a smear of blood instead of spots.

They do lay in the nests but have never slept in the nests.

I've had a couple birds that poop every time they laid, it's annoying for sure.
As long as the blood smears are not too bad and not every time, I'd not worry about it much.

 

[Bodhisan]

I've had a couple birds that poop every time they laid, it's annoying for sure.
As long as the blood smears are not too bad and not every time, I'd not worry about it much.

Haha - that’s a relief to hear; trust that I tried to google this prior, and nobody said they have birds that poop every time they lay, so I’m glad to hear it - and I so concur that it’s annoying as h-e-double hockey sticks. I will still post a pic of my poo delight just to compare eggs.

 

[kfsilver]

For me sometimes my hens (ages 5 to 8 years old) get poop stuck on their feathers, which then sloughs onto the egg. They never poop while laying, but sometimes that poop on their feathers gets onto the egg. Annoying, but it is what it is.

I have also seen eggs with blood smears. So far, it seems to be a broken blood vessel or such during the laying process, as I have yet to have a hen actively bleeding from laying an egg. So unless you can view the bleeding from the vent itself, personally I would chalk it up as odd but not unheard of.

 

[Bodhisan]

For me sometimes my hens (ages 5 to 8 years old) get poop stuck on their feathers, which then sloughs onto the egg. They never poop while laying, but sometimes that poop on their feathers gets onto the egg. Annoying, but it is what it is.

I have also seen eggs with blood smears. So far, it seems to be a broken blood vessel or such during the laying process, as I have yet to have a hen actively bleeding from laying an egg. So unless you can view the bleeding from the vent itself, personally I would chalk it up as odd but not unheard of.

I don’t think my girl has a poopy butt/feathers that is coating as the egg comes out, but I’ll keep an eye on that. Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[Bodhisan]

Update: This has been an example of taking your car to the mechanic - and the noise stops. My hen has laid 8 or 9 eggs that are clean - but I noticed something. First, let me make clear my original theory: She was pooping/laying simultaneously. I've rethought my theory to: She is pooping a little before laying, and then her egg gets planted in it - on occasion. I say this because a few times these past couple of weeks, I have noticed that there is some scat next her egg - none of my other hens (well, I only have four) leave any poop in the nesting box. Just her - Donna. Donna who dungs a bit in the box.

However, if she does, and I'm sure she will, leave me an egg with poop on it, I will still post pictures, just in case...and for fun, of course.

 

[Bodhisan]

Finally got a stinker a couple of days ago - just now posting. I think this weighs on the side of my latter theory, that my hen is pooping a bit before laying, then plopping the egg down in the dung. One photo shows the egg as it was found - with an odd dab of poop on the "top" of the egg (which is unusual - I don't know what this means; some was stuck on her feathers, as suggested above?). The other photo, which has the thick layer of doo-doo is the egg turned up, so that you could see the "bottom" side, which I'm assuming is showing that the egg was laid on top of her scat.

I just wanted to keep up with this and post pictures, as @aart suggested, with the hopes that searches ten years from now will show this - and hopefully show that, at least in this instance, there is no serious problem I/we need to worry about, but rather just a girl who occasionally shats before laying. Please jump in if you feel otherwise, for the posterity of this being an educational thread.

FYI: The pine shavings you see on the floor of their nesting box are the remnants of what they haven't shoved and kicked out. I plan on not using them any more and just using the piece of a type of an old rubber yoga mat, pictured, that I cut up to fit. As of now, they haven't picked and torn at it - cushy enough, apparently, for the eggs, and it's easy to clean.

Edited to include that it's been over a month since I saw any blood on her egg - and it was only those couple of times. Pheewwww...