Bill getting lighter?

[Saigey]

I noticed this evening the tip (nail, I believe it's called?) of Loki's bill is getting lighter! Is this because she's laying? She's almost a year old, is a mother of 9 babies that hatched in February-March. She usually lays one egg a day in the early afternoon, is on 22% Dumor duck All Stages and has ground oyster shells free choice. I'm attaching a pic from a couple of months ago and one from this evening.

 

[pekin queen]

I noticed this evening the tip (nail, I believe it's called?) of Loki's bill is getting lighter! Is this because she's laying? She's almost a year old, is a mother of 9 babies that hatched in February-March. She usually lays one egg a day in the early afternoon, is on 22% Dumor duck All Stages and has ground oyster shells free choice. I'm attaching a pic from a couple of months ago and one from this evening.

do you mean the bean?

 

[Saigey]

do you mean the bean?

Ahhhh, yes, I knew there was a word for it.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I just learned that bills can get pale when laying consistently. For my duck who has a very pale bill, I plan to supplement calcium to see if that helps.

 

[Saigey]

I just learned that bills can get pale when laying consistently. For my duck who has a very pale bill, I plan to supplement calcium to see if that helps.

She's a little snowy call duck, I never expected her to be such a little egg machine. Now that's its getting later in the summer, I'm hoping that she'll finish up laying, since it's super hot and humid She's got lots of ground oyster shell for calcium.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I saw someone else post about calcium for bill color but I am pretty sure I read it is a lack of carotenes, yellow/orange proteins. They are in the yolk of the egg so yes, the bill and feet colors can fade from laying. I believe corn can help. I will try to find where I read this.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I saw someone else post about calcium for bill color but I am pretty sure I read it is a lack of carotenes, yellow/orange proteins. They are in the yolk of the egg so yes, the bill and feet colors can fade from laying. I believe corn can help. I will try to find where I read this.

That's true for chickens' yellow legs. That's kinda what I was suspecting when I read that about calcium, but I figured I could try it out and see.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

That's true for chickens' yellow legs. That's kinda what I was suspecting when I read that about calcium, but I figured I could try it out and see.

Found it! In “Duck Eggs Daily”, by Lisa Steele, it says the orange color comes “from xyanthophyll, a carotenoid found in alfalfa, basil, carrots, corn, marigolds, pumpkins and other food. The more of these foods a duck eats, the more orange their bills and feet will turn. Xanthophyll is also what colors egg yolks.” Great book btw.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Found it! In “Duck Eggs Daily”, by Lisa Steele, it says the orange color comes “from xyanthophyll, a carotenoid found in alfalfa, basil, carrots, corn, marigolds, pumpkins and other food. The more of these foods a duck eats, the more orange their bills and feet will turn. Xanthophyll is also what colors egg yolks.”

Yeah, that's the same for chickens' legs. Makes sense that the color would dip while in lay if the xanthophylls are supplying egg yolk color.

I used to mix dried marigold into the fermented feed. It just got expensive as my flock grew, but I remember one day, I made scrambled eggs, and they were neon orange because I'd overdone the marigolds.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

Yeah, that's the same for chickens' legs. Makes sense that the color would dip while in lay if the xanthophylls are supplying egg yolk color.

I used to mix dried marigold into the fermented feed. It just got expensive as my flock grew, but I remember one day, I made scrambled eggs, and they were neon orange because I'd overdone the marigolds.

Love it! When I was a kid in St.Louis we used to go to the Purina farm. I remember that they used to experiment putting food coloring in the chicken feed to make different color yolks. They didn’t just make orange but also red and green for fun. They told us they stopped the experiment because some of the scientists that were eating the eggs started to turn green!