white yolks wanted: feed?

[kefiren]

Hello experts!

Because of a health concern, I would like to design a chicken feed that results in no carotenes in the egg. Perhaps based on rice.

See this article:
https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-species-of-bird-which-lays-eggs-with-yolks-that-are-not-yellow

I've always bought commercial feed and have no idea where to start. thx!

 

[kefiren]

Here is another article in which it says Japanese farmers do use rice and do end up with a lighter egg

https://www.poultryworld.net/Layers...e-farmers-use-rice-as-chicken-feed-WP007796W/

I actually used to blend my own goat ration, but strangely, after so MANY years chicken keeping, it has never crossed my mind to try.

 

[sylviethecochin]

http://worldpoultryfoundation.org/projects/feedmix-app/

Might be helpful; I haven't tried it (due to not having an Android or Apple product with which to test.)

 

[kefiren]

thank you sylviethecochin!

 

[centrarchid]

White not remove yolk after cracking egg so only the albumen will be consumed. Then you can feed yolk back to birds or others that can handle the carotenoids.

 

[kefiren]

Hi Centrarchid! Eating egg whites is obviously an option, but I'm curious about creating carotene-free yolks! It appears that it happens when the feed is quite low in carotenes. I'm assuming that nothing much else is different with the egg and that the chickens are probably fine with it. (the Japanese are doing it)

here is my little "noobie" try at the idea:

Grains 62-77 % -- (brown rice (not white?) I'm assuming?)

Vegetable Protein 15-19 %- (perhaps cracked black beans? but some say their chickens don't like legumes. Perhaps sesame seeds?)

Fish meal 4-5% (probably no carotenes?)

Oyster Shell 2% (same)

Salt (1%)

Kelp (4%) (I'm thinking kelp has carotenes. This might need a substitution)

 

[Willowspirit]

What kinds of chickens produce Japanese eggs? I’d start there.

 

[centrarchid]

Be careful with purposefully pushing carotenoid levels down. The vitamin family they belong to might get too low for benefit of hen who's body is designed to transfer them from from bodily stores to egg making (vitellogenesis). When she is pushed hard her skin, legs and beak will blanch if otherwise yellow. She needs those forms of vitamin A for her own bodily functions and the embryo needs them to develop properly.

 

[aart]

Because of a health concern,

Allergy...or???

 

[kefiren]

Willowspirit, it appears that it doesn't matter the breed, it's mostly the feeding of rice vs corn that does it. I'd be experimenting with my current flock which is mixed, and older for that matter.

Centrarchid, I would bet that a white bird like my leghorns might need less carotenes, although that is just an intuition. Given that my girls are older (which means they could have stored vitamin A) and also have access to free range, I think they would be ok. It could be that I might have to confine them to get the effect. But I don't know.

Aart, I am exploring the possibility that I appear to have overdone the amount of vitamin A I've ingested over time as a homesteader and health nut. I have several symptoms of A overload and some of my skin is an odd color.

For more information about this sort of "newish" idea (that some people can get A-toxic on normal foods) one can google "Grant Genereux".