[devonbarmygardener]

..the last egg laid this afternoon was a little bloodied?

The girls all look ok - I suspect as laid in the newer coop that it is Rosie's egg.
No chance of examining her mind as she is so skittish around the hens, so none of us can get near her!!

She merrily chomped some corn this evening along with the others.

Also, there is no sign of a lash either. Just a couple of streaks of blood on the egg shell and 2 splashes on top of that particular nest box.


All help from dear hen friends appreciated!

[ANHBUC]

Does it look as if the blood is from it being laid or could it be on after?  Maybe she has a cut somewhere and it got on it that way.

Best to go out when it is dark and take her inside in the light to check her over properly.  If she is on an allotment take her in a shed if you have one.  A head torch is a must for this job.   

[joyfull]

check for red mite - a few years ago it was when I got a couple of eggs with small blood smears on them that I discovered my coops had the dreaded red mites.

[ANHBUC]

check for red mite - a few years ago it was when I got a couple of eggs with small blood smears on them that I discovered my coops had the dreaded red mites.

Was that from where they had been feeding on the hens joy?

[joyfull]

yes, not all the red mites had gone to hide during the day but were in the bedding, so when a hen went in to lay the red mites leapt on and got a feed at the same time. Some must have got squished when the egg came out leaving blood smears on the egg.

[ANHBUC]

Yuk, I suppose they would be attracted by the heat off them when laying.  Now I'm itchy. 

[joyfull]

they certainly are nasty wee beasties.

[ANHBUC]

I hope I never have the displeasure of seeing any.

[devonbarmygardener]

I wouldn't think it was red mite as we really work hard to prevent it with smite spray when cleaning the coop and smite powder in all the corners.

It looked like it was spread on the egg during the laying process. I'll try and take a picture of it in daylight tomorrow - the flash won't show it up tonight.

If I go up there at night I need someone with me! No lights!!

[ANHBUC]

She will need to be checked out as the other hens will spot the blood  and could attack her.  If you can't see anything just spray her bottom with purple spray to be on the safe side.  You will have fun trying to spray a moving target, I know I have in the past.   

[devonbarmygardener]

We have a stinky dark brown spray!! And yes it isn't easy.

The other girls wouldn't get near Rosie - she's the only bird with a full body of feathers!!

[ANHBUC]

Does the spray include an antiseptic?

[devonbarmygardener]

Yup

Can't remember what it was called...

[ANHBUC]

That should be fine.  Just check her eggs over the coming days and keep an eye out for any unusual behaviour if you can't catch her to check her over.

[devonbarmygardener]

I put a note in our communication book for the others to keep an eye out. I think my next chicken day is Tuesday but we're likely to walk around the village over the weekend.