Blood spots in eggs

[SINGER]

Hi
Have searched for an answer to this problem within this forum but can't find anything hence this post.
I have a nearly 3 year old hen that has just started laying after a long period during the winter. Her eggs are large and lovely dark brown with even darker speckles, but I've noticed when I crack some of them into the pan there are a few spots of blood within the egg. Does anyone know what maybe causing this please?

 

[chrismahon]

Hello Singer. I assume the blood is being trapped during the formation of the yolk, so there must be some internal bleeding of a mild nature. Perhaps this is a 'start of lay' thing, but it must be rare as I can't remember seeing it in any of ours. When was she last wormed with Flubenvet? I ask because I remember reading that in extreme cases worms can get into the eggs. How that happens I don't know, but maybe the two are related?

 

[Marigold]

I expect you mean that the blood spots in the eggs are in the white rather than the yolk, Singer? This is quite common and is caused by a little bit of the hen's oviduct coming apart and getting into the egg before it is coated with shell, which is the last stage in the process. Nothing to worry about, not harmful to the hen, and you can eat the eggs, just scoop out the spots if you prefer to.
There's an interesting article on egg abnormalities here http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/07E03A06.pdf

 

[chrismahon]

That is a very good article Marigold. Funnily enough we had a hen produce stringy rubber and the next two eggs were fine. She is a Leghorn bantam and despite laying many thin shelled eggs at the end of last year and then the strange rubber start to this year she remains perfectly healthy.

 

[Kevin1962]

We've had hens who occasionally lay eggs with blood spots. To my knowledge, this is quite common, it isn't anything to be too concerned about, often clears up on it's own, and doesn't diminish the quality of the egg, save the appearance of the yolk. I agree with Marigold that simply removing the offending bits seems like a good solution, until the hen does so herself.

 

[SINGER]

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the replies. Interesting article referred to. Glad to say we have had no recurrence with any of the eggs now being laid.