Egg quality/color

[JoCin]

Hello Everyone! We're going on 4 1/2 months of being backyard chicken owners and loving it! Our 6 hens (no roos) live in a wooded area so they are completely protected at all times. They have several runs with fodder boxes, mulch, dirt, roosting bars, shade, sunshine and anything else we can think of to make life as free-range like as possible. Since they are not free range and we only have 6, it is fairly easy to monitor the quality of their eggs. I have 5 eggs that are a lovely dark yellow yolk and 1 egg that is my personal goal of a 'natural' orange yolk. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas why 1 hens egg is a little more 'free range like' than the rest. She's not getting out. LOL Thanks

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Hello Everyone! We're going on 4 1/2 months of being backyard chicken owners and loving it! Our 6 hens (no roos) live in a wooded area so they are completely protected at all times. They have several runs with fodder boxes, mulch, dirt, roosting bars, shade, sunshine and anything else we can think of to make life as free-range like as possible. Since they are not free range and we only have 6, it is fairly easy to monitor the quality of their eggs. I have 5 eggs that are a lovely dark yellow yolk and 1 egg that is my personal goal of a 'natural' orange yolk. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas why 1 hens egg is a little more 'free range like' than the rest. She's not getting out. LOL Thanks

The orange color is just a pigment. It has to do with the amount of carotene in the chickens diet, so whatever you're feeding them and whatever they're foraging will influence the color. Some chickens are better foragers than others, so their diets can vary. Some common foods that contain carotene are sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, squash and some fruits too.
Perhaps she is just eating more of something that has carotene in it than the others. I have one hen who tends to eat very large bitefuls of food and she is heavier than all the rest, so I know chickens can eat at different rates.

 

[JoCin]

The orange color is just a pigment. It has to do with the amount of carotene in the chickens diet, so whatever you're feeding them and whatever they're foraging will influence the color. Some chickens are better foragers than others, so their diets can vary. Some common foods that contain carotene are sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, squash and some fruits too.
Perhaps she is just eating more of something that has carotene in it than the others. I have one hen who tends to eat very large bitefuls of food and she is heavier than all the rest, so I know chickens can eat at different rates.

Thanks! I have one also that is a bigger eater than the other 5 and heavier. She may be the one!