Egg yolk color Experiment

[Sheltiepawz]

Wow! I live in south Louisiana and mine free range around the same amount of time as yours. I feed nutrena. My yolks are not that orange.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yeah, it's what they are eating. It doesn't change the nutritional value but I also like the darker yolks. And it is always fun to experiment. I'll try to follow this to see the results.

At least one feed company adds marigold petals to their Layer to help darken the yolks. I grow a lot of marigolds in my garden, not for any perceived benefit but just because I think they are pretty. When I clean out the garden I typically toss the marigold plants in the run. I generally notice a nice jump in color of the yolk. Another one I think helps is when I can beets I feed them the cooked beet skins. Those cooked beets will stain anything.

Mine get a lot of stuff from the garden in season. Depending on what I feed them the color of the yolk can change. Mine get a fair amount of red tomatoes and ripe peppers in later summer, pretty much what I don't want to eat because of defects.

 

[aart]

As far as treats I've given them a few kitchen scraps, mostly greens, some carrot peels and some boiled crawfish shells. I would think all of these things have played a part in the change I have seen in their yolks.

Uhhh, YUP!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Nice! Could you post a picture of the carrots, please?

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Wow that’s such a difference!

Is it Cayenne as in the hot chilli pepper powder?

I’m not knowledgeable on herbs and spices

My birds I show get a fully balanced diet but they are always housed in a covered run and their yolks are no where near as dark as our free rangers.

I’d give this a go and see if it made any difference to mine on the Cayenne alone.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Nice! Could you post a picture of the carrots, please?

Sure thing.
The first one is altered, but actually is more accurate. In person they're very vivid but I'm not great about getting good lighting.

 

[Halfpasthen]

Wow that’s such a difference!

Is it Cayenne as in the hot chilli pepper powder?

I’m not knowledgeable on herbs and spices

My birds I show get a fully balanced diet but they are always housed in a covered run and their yolks are no where near as dark as our free rangers.

I’d give this a go and see if it made any difference to mine on the Cayenne alone.

Yes lol, ground cayenne pepper. We go through a lot of it here for ourselves. Please post your results to see if the cayenne alone would do it.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Wow! Big difference. Cool to see how much difference a week can make. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Halfpasthen]

Wow! Big difference. Cool to see how much difference a week can make. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! I found lots of great information while researching but there was always a lack of pictures!

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Yes lol, ground cayenne pepper. We go through a lot of it here for ourselves. Please post your results to see if the cayenne alone would do it.

Thankyou and of course, I will do!