How to get an orange yolk egg?

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For those of us with small backyards, the 30 minutes before sunset is a great way to free range and they keep the bugs cleaned up!
 
beta carotene gives them dark orange yolks. Mine started out pale yellow, and I started giving them treats of greens. (in attition to the weeds they eat in my orchard) My yolks are now a nice, beautiful orange.

Spinach, cantaloupe, chard, parsley all have high beta carotene content.
 
I let mine out in the morning before I feed them. They love it and know the routine. On There own, they stay out about 2 hours and go back into the pen. Now that the weather has cooled down, I want to let them out again about 1 hour before sunset. They go back in to roost and to lay eggs.
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I feed the different fresh greens and a small bale of hay. I get it at walmart, in the small animal section. Pet Smart has it also. Carrots, beets ,tomatoes, Bananas, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples and of course Yogurt, rice, pasta, cottage cheese. Depends what is in season and at a cheaper price. The type of food I eat is what my flock eats. I also scramble eggs for them. I get nice orange yokes. Don't you just love the taste of your eggs.
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I also mix a bag of scratch to my layer mash, as soon as it cools down. That is now. I just sprinkle a hand full in the pen in the summer so that they will stir the shavings for me. They do a grand job.
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I've read through a lot of this European Union site and it seems credible, but I make no guarantees as to its accuracy. I'm sceptical of a lot of what I find on the internet. Anyway, it claims it is not actually Beta-carotene that colors the yolk, but other carotenoids, whatever that is worth. I know, I'm just being picky.

Bottom line is that the eggs reflect what the chicken eats. Certain fruits, vegetables, and even corn will darken the yolk. Some things will make it darker yellow, some make it orangy, and some like red peppers make it almost look red. A lot different from store-bought eggs.

Egg yolk color - Beta-carotene
http://www.yellow-egg.com/wEnglish/das_gelbe_im_ei/Der_Eidotter.shtml?navid=18
 
winekntrychicks said:
What about those of us who can't/won't let the girls free range due to airborne predators? In fact as I type there is a huge buzzard and family living in one of the trees just above the coop and run. We also have a family of Red Tail Hawks in a near by tree.
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Do give your chickens some sun be in under shelter or not. Natural sunlight, bugs, lots of leaves and veggies of different colors will give you a more intense yolk color. If they can't free range, harvest bugs for them.
 
My girls have been gorging on Cicadas lately.

It's so funny - I let them out and they *book it* over to a tree that they know will have a bunch.

Their eggs have been super colorful and flavorful.
Mmmm - cicada eggs! :D
 
I have heard that dark leafy greens like spinach, kale and collards, as well as in zucchini, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts have a lot of lutein in them and that means a lot more orange. So I have and abundance of zucchini and I have been feeding that for the last 4 days now and the research that I have done says that you wont notice anything until about a week to 10 days after you started feeding it so we will see
 

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