What to Feed them to Make Yolks Darker?

[candr01]

My chickens cannot free range and must be kept in their pen. I try to give them green treats on occasion but they mainly eat the organic grower feed I buy for them (plus free choice oyster shell). They seem healthy and happy.

But their yolks really aren't any different to the store bought eggs I get. I thought backyard chicken eggs would have dark yellow yolks, and on occasion they have been fabulously dark (due perhaps to an increase in greens I've given them), but generally they aren't. What can I give them in their regular feed to make their yolks darker? I saw Cluck'n'Sea has a sea kelp product that says it produces dark yolks. Would this work? Being green I would think sea kelp it might.

I know free ranging and a very varied diet will do the trick. But my girls can't free range.

Thoughts?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Birds lay dark colored yolks when their diets are rich in carotenoids - so, yes, the greens you fed were contributing to the yolks you saw afterwards. Many feeds add synthetic versions of the key carotenoids are often added to feeds - apoester and canthaxanthin are two you will often see in commercial feeds. Natural sources to offer them would be dark greens such as kale, collards, broccoli leaves, alfalfa, etc.

 

[enola]

I feed fermented feed, the mixture is an all flock feed, scratch grains and alfalfa pellets. The alfalfa pellets appear to help change the yolks to a darker color.

I can't free range my hens either .

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I feed fermented feed, the mixture is an all flock feed, scratch grains and alfalfa pellets. The alfalfa pellets appear to help change the yolks to a darker color.

I can't free range my hens either .

I don't know how well this works but some people (I think in Chili) say that feeding a commercial feed containing marigold flower meal makes egg yokes darker. I do know that feeding fish meal makes eggs taste like sushi.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I don't know how well this works but some people (I think in Chili) say that feeding a commercial feed containing marigold flower meal makes egg yokes darker. I do know that feeding fish meal makes eggs taste like sushi.

Yes, marigold extracts are one of the additives many commercial feed producers add to help enrich egg yolk coloration.

 

[enola]

Years ago Frank Perdue made comical commercials that stated that all of their chickens got their beautiful yellow skins from marigold petals that were added to their diet.

 

[Cindy in PA]

My layer feed contains alfalfa which helps darken the yokes & is actually food as opposed to marigold petals. My hens have never eaten marigold petals on their own, but they love alfalfa in the winter!

 

[DrTacosMD]

Years ago Frank Perdue made comical commercials that stated that all of their chickens got their beautiful yellow skins from marigold petals that were added to their diet.

Animals can uptake carotenoids and certain pigments and show it in their skin. It's like how if we eat tons of carrots we will show an orange color in our skin.

And to add to that, I notice that between my brahma (has white skin) and my Rhode Island reds (yellow skin), the RIRs have much yellower/darker yolks. And, I tend to favor my brahma and feed her tons of greens. So on paper, my brahma should have the darker yolk in her eggs but she doesn't. I recently read someone's post about how chicken with yellow or green skin have darker, more yellow yolks because they have their skin as a reservoir of pigment. Not too hard for me to believe given what I've observed.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Animals can uptake carotenoids and certain pigments and show it in their skin. It's like how if we eat tons of carrots we will show an orange color in our skin.

And to add to that, I notice that between my brahma (has white skin) and my Rhode Island reds (yellow skin), the RIRs have much yellower/darker yolks. And, I tend to favor my brahma and feed her tons of greens. So on paper, my brahma should have the darker yolk in her eggs but she doesn't. I recently read someone's post about how chicken with yellow or green skin have darker, more yellow yolks because they have their skin as a reservoir of pigment. Not too hard for me to believe given what I've observed.

X 2 - http://www.worldpoultry.net/Broiler...oids-on-yolk-and-skin-pigmentation-WP010752W/

 

[CrazyTalk]

Like has been said - anything with carotenoids or their precursors will do it. It's important to remember though, that the bright orange color has nothing to do with egg quality or nutrition.

Brightly colored yolks are a good sales tool, but if you're just eating eggs, the color of the yolk is pretty much irrelevant. (as an aside, a diet high in acorns will turn egg yolks a moldy green color - which is terrible for sales).