Phantom_k9
Songster
Attached is a picture of 5 eggs from 2 of our birds. Recently, these two have seen a sudden change in their egg color / texture. The picture shows this change in egg shell color from top to bottom.
We have also lost several eggs to (what we think) was them having very thin shells (from our scissor beak, who is our best producer but has trouble eating). But I'm not to sure that we don't have another bird who is eating the eggs... Just a few minutes ago I caught her pecking at a fake egg. This leads me to believe that she either has gotten a taste for raw egg, or she needs the calcium, which doesn't make since since the discoloration could be caused by too MUCH calcium. None of our birds have ever liked the layer feed we offer them, in favor of all flock. However, whenever we make a layer feed mash for our scissor beak, the birds loose their mind. This is the only way I could imagine that they are getting an "excess" of calcium. I should also add that we let all of these birds out for 1-2 hours, at a minimum, per night, so they can free range under our watch.
I also posted a zoomed in picture of one of the eggs that almost feels like very fine sandpaper. I am honestly at a loss. We recently (within the last month) move 4 silkies and two chicks out to the coop, but they were all quarantined and didn't show any symptoms. We have also had a few hot days recently.
What I'm worried about is some sulfur I laid out a few weeks ago. The stuff comes in the form of pellets, and I threw it around the coop as a potential snake repellent. I was about to buy a fancy snake powder, but the lady at the feed store convinced me to buy this stuff instead. Could this be causing these issues? If anything, I'll probably try to remove it regardless...
Thanks in advance for any advice!
We have also lost several eggs to (what we think) was them having very thin shells (from our scissor beak, who is our best producer but has trouble eating). But I'm not to sure that we don't have another bird who is eating the eggs... Just a few minutes ago I caught her pecking at a fake egg. This leads me to believe that she either has gotten a taste for raw egg, or she needs the calcium, which doesn't make since since the discoloration could be caused by too MUCH calcium. None of our birds have ever liked the layer feed we offer them, in favor of all flock. However, whenever we make a layer feed mash for our scissor beak, the birds loose their mind. This is the only way I could imagine that they are getting an "excess" of calcium. I should also add that we let all of these birds out for 1-2 hours, at a minimum, per night, so they can free range under our watch.
I also posted a zoomed in picture of one of the eggs that almost feels like very fine sandpaper. I am honestly at a loss. We recently (within the last month) move 4 silkies and two chicks out to the coop, but they were all quarantined and didn't show any symptoms. We have also had a few hot days recently.
What I'm worried about is some sulfur I laid out a few weeks ago. The stuff comes in the form of pellets, and I threw it around the coop as a potential snake repellent. I was about to buy a fancy snake powder, but the lady at the feed store convinced me to buy this stuff instead. Could this be causing these issues? If anything, I'll probably try to remove it regardless...
Thanks in advance for any advice!
