This morning Speckles was back in the nest box again. She had piled a little heap of pine shavings on her back.
Speckles with a pile of shavings on her back
I was sure she was going to get her egg laid this time.
I checked back a little later and she was back out in the run. Her egg was in the nest box but I was a bit worried to see quite a streak of blood on it.
Speckles bloodied egg
Ebony’s egg is on the left, Flame’s egg is in the middle and Speckles egg is on the right.
I googled blood on an older hen’s egg. What would we do without google! I know that a chicken’s first egg often has a streak of blood on it but Speckles is an older hen, possibly about six years old.
It said that an older hen sometimes has blood on the first egg of the year because a little blood vessel in her vent may rupture when laying the egg especially if she has a bit of a struggle to lay it or if it is a large egg. Speckles has been trying to lay her egg for three days now so this would make sense. It is also a large egg but Speckles has always laid large eggs and it’s not as large as some she has laid.
It said that as long as it’s not ongoing then it’s nothing to worry about. I am hopeful that it’s just a glitch and her next egg will be blood free. As Speckles lays an average of three eggs a month it may be a bit of a wait for her next egg. At least the fact that she doesn’t lay often should make the process easier for her.
Having said that she did lay her first two eggs a few days apart last year and then a long gap between all the eggs after that so we will have to wait and see.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
A big egg, bet she is glad that is done.
I bet she is. I hope she takes a bit of a break before the next one.
Well done Speckles! xx One of mine had blood on it this morning too! xx
That makes me feel better because it means it isn’t uncommon then and therefore nothing to worry about. xx
It’s not common, but not unheard of and she has not had further problems; fingers crossed that there’ll be nothing further.
Speckles looks absolutely fine so I am hopeful that it was just a glitch. She did take a long time getting it laid and has shown no sign of wanting to lay one since. I will be glad when she has laid the next one though so that I will be able to see if it’s a one off which I hope will be the case.