What few eggs we are getting have yucky brown spots

Albanydog

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I rarely eat eggs, odd I know, but I made a fluffy omelet last night and over half of the eggs had these big brown or yellow spots in the. The eggs were both chicken and duck. We are getting less then 6 chicken eggs a day out of approximately 130-145 hens of laying age. Our chickens are mostly cross bred standard sized chickens but we do have about 15 purebred bantam hens. Our ducks are Indian Runner and a pair of Pekin.

I am worried there is a problem as we haven't been getting many eggs from the chickens for at least 2 months now. We had several chickens drop dead suddenly, 6 over 2 weeks and mom treated the flock with Tylon for 5 days, that is when eggs production went from zero to 4-6 a day.

We cut open all the dead chickens, some were under weight, some not. All their organ appeared pretty normal and their digestive system seemed to be processing food clear through, even the underweight ones. Every one of them had a crop full of one type of seed from the scratch grain my father feeds them. One of them had seeds that had begun to sprout. The scratch is suppose to be a treat but Dad has Alzhiemer's and feeds them way too much. One younger hen had white blotchy spots on all of her organs and an enlarged liver.





I know about the small red blood spots that appear now and again in eggs and that the older the egg gets the more likely it is to be absorbed into the egg but these seem different, they are large and brown and in way more eggs then usual.

Any ideas?
 
I have no idea. I think you are right that there is a problem and the Tylon seemed to help. Go back and look at all your basic husbandry practices (may make no difference, but it can't hurt!) I would keep a close eye on the egg quality but wouldn't eat them for a while, cook and feed them to the dogs. Make sure to clean and sanitize food and water containers, coops, nest boxes, etc. Make sure the water is fresh and that food is fresh and available at all times. Discontinue the treats until you see if it makes any difference. Look for signs of illness and write down anything you see. If Dad needs to feed them treats, chop fruit and veggies and keep them in the chicken pail for him to give. Once you have done all of this, you may see some indication of the problem. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Thanks, I will show my parents your message and hope they decide to continue to try and treat the chickens and stop Dad from feeding them so much junk. I did start growing my own meal worms almost 2 weeks ago, hoping they can have a more nutritious snack soon!
 
The white spots on the organs could very possibly be an indication of Marek's Disease.
 

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