Are carrots turning my chickens' feathers orange?

[liz_s]

Hello!

I have two white chickens that occasionally have feathers that turn orangey-yellow. They aren't molting, but I don't know much about the biology of feathers, so I'm not sure if diet can affect fully-grown feathers... The girls certainly eat a lot of carrots. The last time this happened it went away, so I'm wondering if maybe they're just dirty?

Thanks for your help!

Liz

 

[NoseyChickens]

It's possible. From what I have been told too much corn can do the same thing. I was adding some vitamin electrolite powder to my water (it was yellow) and my white birds turned a bit yellow.

 

[Braclin]

Never heard of carrots turning feathers. Sounds like they have just rolled in something.

 

[justbugged]

It is possible. Carrots contain carotene and it has been know to turn peoples skin orange. It takes a lot of carrots to do that.

 

[liz_s]

Thanks for the opinions!

I'm not really concerned, just curious. It's quite possible that it's from their environment; they love to bathe in the mulch in my flower beds (I have yet to put up fences). I got them some peat moss to roll around in, so I'll be curious to see if that gets rid of the issue. They do love their carrots, so I'll keep giving them those regardless. Silly chickens!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Hi liz_s, just out of my own curiosity, do your birds eat the carrots raw or do you cook them? Mine haven't shown much interest in raw carrots and I've been wondering if they would like them if cooked.

 

[schmije]

Quote:
I was surprised when I saw this post, because my chickens also have no interest in carrots - raw or cooked. I've given them pea soup with ham and cooked carrots, and they inhaled the pea soup and ham but left all of the carrots! I thought for sure they'd eat them cooked.

 

[fiberart57]

I didn't think that fully-grown out feathers are vascular; that they have a blood supply to the ends of the feather. This means that the coloring from the carrots will not reach into the feathers, which like our hair, won't change color once it's grown out. The carotene in the carrots may affect their combs and legs, but I don't think that it would go so far as to get to turning their feathers a different color.

Mary

 

[allieloveschickens]

I bet carrots could change their feather color, my little brother ate so much mashed yam as a baby he looked like an oompa loompa! Plus Flamingos are pink because of their diet, why not chickens

 

[alaskachick]

Wow.. My chickens absolutely dislike carrots. I've tried them cooked, chopped, raw and they won't touch them. I gave them some left over beef stew one day and they ate it all up except left the carrots!