⠀ Wanting more orange color yolks!

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Kmath

Kmath

In the Brooder
Feb 19, 2015
89
4
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Canada
I've heard that feeding marigolds to my hens will help pigment their yolk? Also I have heard good and bad things about switching to corn. I have way too many predators to free range here but we are now going to provide a huge run which will give them access to more bugs
 
Kmath said:
I've heard that feeding marigolds to my hens will help pigment their yolk? Also I have heard good and bad things about switching to corn. I have way too many predators to free range here but we are now going to provide a huge run which will give them access to more bugs
Click to expand...

marigolds defintily help! you could try carrots also
 
Kmath said:
I've heard that feeding marigolds to my hens will help pigment their yolk? Also I have heard good and bad things about switching to corn. I have way too many predators to free range here but we are now going to provide a huge run which will give them access to more bugs
Click to expand...
We give our hens grass clippings, and leftover human food scraps, and their eggs are bright orange.
smile.png
 
Fermented, can you elaborate pleasssse??:) also for the marigolds should I plant a whole bunch in their run or will they destroy them? I have lots of space I can plant what ever I want... Ideas?
 
21hens-incharge said:
Alfalfa and broccoli seemed to bring out the orange in the yolks here.i just have to be careful how much scraps. I guess I was giving them too much veggies they weren't eating their chicken feed so not laying very well:( but I will buy some alfalfa and throw it in once in a while
Click to expand...
 
Don't they use marigolds to yellow the yolks?

Also important about marigolds... I believe the marigolds used in feed to yellow up the yolks are NOT the same species as your usual flower garden marigolds. Correct me if wrong on this.. remember being surprised by this ages ago...

When my chickens were totally free range- sleep in trees, never cooped up etc. their yolks would get very orange and even reddish(thought those were beautiful) during winter- spring, our "growing season"(summer-fall is bone dry) with lots of weeds and grasses plus bug blooms. Over the summer the weeds would be gone and not so many bugs, their yolks would go back to yellow.

IIRC I think you can get "not yellow" yolks by lots of greens, bug protein...
 
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My chickens can't free range either for the same reason so they live in a fully enclosed cage. I feed 2 cups of sprouted grains per day which comes out to about 3-4 pounds of fodder. Besides that, they get a 20% protein pellet and a cup of scratch between 18 chickens and their eggs are lovely.
 
Nupe said:
My chickens can't free range either for the same reason so they live in a fully enclosed cage. I feed 2 cups of sprouted grains per day which comes out to about 3-4 pounds of fodder. Besides that, they get a 20% protein pellet and a cup of scratch between 18 chickens and their eggs are lovely.
Click to expand...
I feed an 18% protein pellet, no 20% here? Hmm.. I will add scratch! Thanks
 
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