Help! just found blood on a bowl

[carolineholding]

Delighted this morning to find not one but three eggs in the nesting box (first eggs ever from my Hens) as I was up a ladder (they live in a tree house) and not really expecting to find any eggs I asked my other half to hand me up the stainless steel pudding bowl I usually use to scoop the feed out of the barrel with. I pour about 2 thirds of it into the main feeding vessel which is a longish black plastic tray, but i leave some in there so the hens have definitely got enough space to all eat.

So that's the good news out the way, after we'd finished washing the eggs and putting them carefully in an egg box and generally being excited I noticed what seems to be blood splattered (very pink blood) on the a fore mentioned stainless steel bowl and some of the remaining feed in the bowl. I've looked at all the hens, can't see any blood around their beaks or anywhere else, nor can I see any on the tray (but its black plastic so it would be harder to spot).

The 5 of them, all austrolorps: 1 cockerel and 4 hens seem perfectly fine other wise, they generally get on well with each other and the only recent change in their behavior is that they have seemed hungrier in the mornings for the last week and there has been more of a scram for food and some bickering over it but nothing too serious. I had wondered if this meant they were about to start producing eggs which indeed they have.

Any Ideas? Apologies for long rambling detailed post, I wanted to anticipate any questions

Caroline

[chris]

The cockerel could have injured one of the hen's backs - did you check there? Are his spurs long?

Or check the hen's vent - it could be a bit of lining from new hens laying, coming away. BTW, occasionally you may find blood flecks inside an egg - this is perfectly natural and nothing to worry about (a blood vessel might burst when the egg is being produced). It's also perfectly safe to eat

If you have a hopper style feeder - why don't you leave it on the floor where they roam, ideally they should have adlib access to their food throughout the day. Squabbles your cockerel should sort out between your ladies anyway, so it might just be the pecking order being established! Remove this at night to deter rodents being attracted to your area.

Also, you don't need to wash the eggs! They'll keep better without being washed (unless extremely dirty). A wipe with a slightly damp cloth/tissue to remove any soiling is adequate - the hen puts a "bloom" on the egg when it's laid to prevent bacteria from entering the porous shell.. Washing the eggs will take this protective layer off the egg.

[carolineholding]

Thanks Chris, I didn't know that about washing! I will stop now.

I haven't specifically looked at their backs I'll take a look in the morning, I spent a while looking for our kitten who is being spayed on monday to see if it had anything to do with her, but then I read that apparently cats don't bleed when they come on to heat like dogs.

Now I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the eggs themselves (even though they are small) although I'm pretty sure there is no blood on the actual eggs. I'll see how they look in the morning, assuming there are more of them

[chris]

Well, I don't have be but with a cockerel I know that they can be a bit heavy handed! Light pink though, I'd have though internal lining or similar, which I know they can pass out.
If you hold your hens upside down they'll eventually relax, making them easier to examine, not the nicest way to hold them but it soon stops them flapping around.

[carolineholding]

I wasn't planning on getting a cockerel or even so many hens, my neighbours gave us all five of them! I've had a good look, (thanks for the upside down tip) they seem ok, there have been 2 more eggs too and I see no sign of more blood so far, although clearly not all have them have laid.