[stujem]

Hi all, I opened an egg today and it had blood in it, do you know what could be wrong? all my 3 hens are eating and looking good. I do not have a cockerel. as far as I know this is the first one.

[azubah]

It does happen sometimes. The first time you see it it gives you a shock.
It might not happen again, or you might see a little more. It is said to be due to a broken blood vessel somewhere in the hen's egg laying equipment.

[stujem]

Thank you, I'm so pleased there is no problem with my hen. Can you eat a egg with blood in it, not that I would just thought id ask

[azubah]

It should be OK to eat the egg, though I wouldn't fancy it. If there is only a little you might be able to get it out. I once had an egg with a lot in, which looked horrible. I cooked it and gave it back to the hens.

[Craig69]

My dad used to love eggs with blood in & was quite happy to take mine off me when i was a kid. It never did him any harm!!
I have had a few like that last week but we were making muffins & omlets so once mixed up you don't notice. They don't taste any different!
Just take that bit out once you've open it - or do what has been mentioned before, cook it & give it back to your girls.

[TeaPots]

If it is a sort of blood'clot' type blob, it is usually termed a 'meat spot'. This is nothing to worry about, and is nothing to do with embryo development or anything. It is as described above, a bit of the chooks reproductive system shedding a few cells.  Sometimes, you can have a hen who is more prone to this than others. You can check for meat spots wthout cracking the egg shell,  by shining a bright light, eg torch, through the shell (known as candling) and the spot will show as a dark blotch.