HELP!!! My chicken is laying smelly eggs with black yokes

[happychickengirls]

So my fellow chicken owners has anyone heard of this before? One of my chicks has been laying eggs as usual but when I crack them open it is like a stinkbomb went off in my house. The yokes are black!!!!

I have been feeding them their regular layer pellet food , lots of water, some oyster shells and I do feed them table scraps. They do free range during the day. This particular chicken does have black gooey poo coming off her but and her rearend is raw because of it. ( Kind of like a baby having diaper rash)
What do I do???? I have heard it is probably something she ate but this has been going on for a little while now. Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[paddock36]

hope someone can help.

 

[coloradochick]

Wow I have no answers, never heard of this before but ewww. I hope you hen is okay. Anyone?

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I have no idea. But she may have an infection of some kind. Maybe feed her some antibiotics.. Maybe also worm her. If that all fails.. You may have to cull.

 

[austinhart123]

are you sure the eggs are fresh? theres no chance that these eggs are rotton?

 

[crazyhen]

I saw this in a book recently. It is caused by what they eat. I can not remember what it is but it was a food that particular hen ate. Some of the foods (I think it was fish meal) can cause mottled or dark blackish yolks. I hope this helps. Gloria Jean


See new post it was cotton seed meal.

 

[crazy chook]

How very interesting, I have never heard of this before. I hope she makes it.

I would however separate her and stop her from free ranging, if you think it may be something she ate?

 

[Camelot Farms]

I'm thinking that if it were just a case of off-color yolk, that we could say that it was something that she ate. But since we are adding a stench to the equation, I think there is more to it than that.

If Speckled Hen or Sonoran Silkies dont pop in, you might want to PM one of them. They are my go-to people for stuff like this

In the meantime, I would get ahold of the hen and check out the bottom more closely. Are you seeing mites/worms/maggots on her bottom? Does her abdomen feel 'funny'?
Anything else that you can tell from physically looking at her?

When the eggs come out, are they icky on the outside or just inside?

 

[kcsunshine]

Too much cottonseed meal can make the yoke brown. I agree with the other post - keep her penned up for a few days and see if it improves.

 

[crazyhen]

Quote:
you're right it is cotton seed meal which is in a lot of cattle foods. It contains a substance called gossypol that causes discoloration of the yolks. I read this in Backyard poultry magazine. I hope this has helped, it was not fish meal after all. Gloria Jean