Do I have trouble here...?

[James_Lucier]

We have two hens, hatched in Sept and Oct. and have been delighted with the eggs they have been creating.
A couple of things have me worried, though...

1. I have noticed a crumbly deposition on the shell of many eggs, it rubs off easily but is curious.
2. This morning a broken egg was on the bottom of the coop with a soft leathery shell (looked like a broken balloon). This is the first time that has occurred.

note: Two nights ago I noticed a cat prowling the run at 3 a.m., he/she had activated the motion-light at the run.

note: I feed them Layeena (available all day).
Special meals while it's cold out:
Mornings: approx . half cup of parrot stuff (sprouts, peas,carrots,beans,broccoli,pomegranite, apple).
Evenings: before bed a half cup of mixed frozen veggies.
Both meals are microwaved and chopped small for the chickens... they peck at the Layeena and some occasional scratch that I toss for them all day. Poops vary from large pellets to black tar like stuff that is very hard to remove once dry, or foamy large clumps.

Any thoughts on the leathery broken egg?, the tar-like poops? The crumbly deposits?

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Don't worry about either one. The crumbly stuff s natural, just a little excess calcium. It will happen occassionally.
The other egg is from not enough calcium. Newer layers sometimes do this. It will go away probably. Give them some calcium supplement (like oyster shell or crush up their own eggshells and give them back to them). It's nothing to worry about.

The cat has nothing to do with it. A cat wont' bother a full-grown bird. Maybe banties, but not a big one.

And the icky poops are natural too. It's just that you are feeding them quite a bit of treats. I would back away on the treats (vegs, and grains) and they will eat more of the feed. They should be getting enough calcium from Layena.

 

[James_Lucier]

Thank you ! I'll not kill the cat, then...

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Besides the oyster shell - which should be offered free choice, make sure they have grit available free choice also.

James_Lucier

 

[Kittymomma]

The icky poo is probably cecal and is normal. Do a search for the poo page if you're worried about it and you can compare--actually do the search even if you're not worried, it's good to know what the range of normal is and what looks like trouble. Like the others have said, oyster shell and grit free choice is a good way to go. Oyster shell is very inexpensive and will last a long time--cheap insurance.

 

[James_Lucier]

there's a poo page..... OK,thanks!

I'm going to do the oyster shell thing, too..

 

[Kittymomma]

Poo page link--

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0