Yolk color change, why?

Hello everyone!

My wife was just lamenting this morning that the beautiful orange yolks that our chickens provided when they first started laying have begun to fade to a more yellowish hue.

They are young hens hatched this spring, so they are only about 6 months old right now. For the first few weeks of laying when they seemed to be only laying once every few days the yolks were very orange. Now that they are laying about closer to 2 eggs every 3 days the yolks are more yellow.

My concern is that we haven't really changed their diet at all in that time period. We have a mobile coop and run that gets shifted about once every 2-4 weeks to freshen up their foraging options. The run area is approximately 800 square feet for 10 birds (9 hens, 1 rooster). On top of the foraging they have continual access to Purina layer pellets at all times if they are hungry (though they seem to MUCH prefer foraging).

Any recommendations on how to improve their yolk coloring/nutrition? I'm worried that they are lacking for something. If it matters the hens consist of 3x ISA Browns, 2x Barred Rocks, 2x Buff Orpingtons, 1x Golden-laced Wyandotte, and 1x Light Brahma.

Thanks!

I don't think it hurts anything. I think it just means that they have less greens in their diet. My grandmother used to keep her hens in a run because she hated the orange color. Maybe try adding some more greens to their diet. (mine get my iguana Mushu's leftover collard greens)
(Somebody with more experience might want to chip in here, too!)

They might just be missing something that they were munching on off the side of the run since its later in the year... Different plants, herbs, flowers etc have different composition depending on where they are in growth...

Marigolds are used to deepen thevhue of store bought eggs to a nice deep orange, and some producers are known to use them in feed to give the skin if broilers a nice golden hue.... So can pumpkin or squash; think beta carotene

If its something missing that would be detrimental to the hens, I wouldn't be too concerned; most deficiencies would show in the shells before the eggs.. add in more greens and yellows as fresh snack items, and you should see color back in them

The orange yolk color is from natural xanthophylls pigments, these are the yellow pigments found mostly in green leafy plants...

The color change is likely due to the seasonal change, and what is growing in your area right now... With winter approaching many plants are no longer shooting up lots of new leaf growth and are starting to die off, thus less and less leaves equals less yellow pigments for the yolk color...

If you want that orange color to return supplement their diet with things like kale, cabbage, spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli, or zucchini to name a few common grocery store items that are high in xanthophylls...

Beyond that it's not a true 'deficiency' that is going to harm them, they will be fine without the extra yellow pigments...

The color of the yoke is dependent on the amount of pigment that the hen has stored in her body. It is possible to predict how much longer a hen will lay before she takes a break by monitoring special parts of her body like her comb, face, eye ring, vent (it should be nice and yellow) and her legs or shanks.

Here's a list to help with yolk color.

Here's why this place Rocks

MeepBeep said:

The orange yolk color is from natural xanthophylls pigments, these are the yellow pigments found mostly in green leafy plants...

The color change is likely due to the seasonal change, and what is growing in your area right now... With winter approaching many plants are no longer shooting up lots of new leaf growth and are starting to die off, thus less and less leaves equals less yellow pigments for the yolk color...

If you want that orange color to return supplement their diet with things like kale, cabbage, spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli, or zucchini to name a few common grocery store items that are high in xanthophylls...

Beyond that it's not a true 'deficiency' that is going to harm them, they will be fine without the extra yellow pigments...

Click to expand...

Cool, I soak that kind of info up like a sponge; our little world is SO neat! Thanks!

rides2far said:

Here's a list to help with yolk color.

Click to expand...

Awesome as well! That was explains a lot for me; my yolks are actually unusually orange in spring... I grow a LOT of beets, and they get beet tops pretty much all of April, so now I know why