[Under The Hill]

I cracked an egg this morning to poach and there was a lot of blood inside, not just a blood spot.   I have found a picture on line (I will try and attach it) and although not my egg, it is exactly what the egg looked like.  I wonder what is wrong?  I have been slightly worried about the particular chicken whose egg it is (I know it is her egg,  as she is the only chicken to lay white eggs).  She has a what seems like a small bald patch, or a gap in her feathers around her neck about an inch long.  She won't let me catch her to look properly but I can't work out if she is just malting or whether the other two are pecking her.  I have never seen her being pecked.   What do you think is the reason there was so much blood in her egg?  We did not eat the egg urlhttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/5465566900_51734daffd.jpg

[New shoot]

Blood spots are where a blood vessel ruptures when the yolk is released, but that is a lot of blood and would seem to indicate a bleed in the area where the white is attached to the yolk 

I don't think pecking would cause this, but the bald patch is similar sounding to the feather pulling a cockerel can do when mating.  Female hens can copy male behaviour to assert their top spot in the pecking order, so one of the others may be grabbing her by the neck.  If it is just feather loss and no real injury, I wouldn't worry too much.

If the hen is hard to catch, that is a good sign that not much is wrong.  Keep an eye on her and hopefully this egg was a one off.  You certainly don't want that appearing too often in a frying pan 

[Sassy]

Best to examine once gone to roost in evening. She should be quiet then. If she is difficult wait until she has been in a while and she will be half asleep/trancelike. It could be lice causing the patcg and will need to be treated. 

[Under The Hill]

Thanks for replys if the feathers missing are from lice would I see them on her? Will try getting her when it is dusk great idea.

[New shoot]

You will see them if you part the feathers so you can see her skin.  They do seem to congregate around the rear end and on the neck.  You may also see eggs on the feathers around her bum. 

If it is lice, they will all have them, so treat them all.  If you don't see lice and it is only this hen with a bald patch, I would still go with a hen aping male behaviour to assert dominance and grabbing her by the neck.  They can be horrible little brutes to each other