First egg from an unexpected lady

[Farmerbyaccident]

I expected the first egg from my ISA’s but looks like my 21 week old White Crested Polish gal, Edna was interested in beating them ha! Just a little guy egg of-course but happy just the same.

Also happy my chicken feed egg-science thanks to these forums - is hitting the mark! nice start to a good orange color and a super strong shell. My freshly discovered roo Ike, also managed to sweet talk her it seems . Including a picture my Edna’s little egg yolk (left) and a store bought egg yolk for color comparison in case anyone is interested.

Crazy how a single smol egg felt so rewarding after months of love and spoiling my girls. You would have thought I won the lottery with my excitement ha!

 

[WingItRanch]

Beautiful! Let's see a picture of the young lady in question, too!

Congratulations! So rewarding!

 

[Farmerbyaccident]

Beautiful! Let's see a picture of the young lady in question, too!

Congratulations! So rewarding!

I should have included one of her! Here she is, she is a beauty.

 

[WingItRanch]

I should have included one of her! Here she is, she is a beauty.

What a good girl!

 

[Lilchix]

Can you share your successful orange yolk chicken feed recipe?! THanks!

 

[Farmerbyaccident]

Can you share your successful orange yolk chicken feed recipe?! THanks!

Still working out the science in amount of the color affecting elements, but what is working so far (they are getting darker each lay) is this combo.

Mixed in their feed container with their pellets:

• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (I buy a gallon bucket for $29 on Amazon and it lasts months)
• Dried Calendula (Marigolds)

Homemade herb mix for coop/nesting boxes. The important items for color are bolded but adding what I buy cheap in bulk in case anyone else is interested in spending less on nesting box herbs by making your own with bulk prices:

• Dried Calendula (Marigolds)
• Dried Rose Buds and Petals
• Dried Lavender
• Dried Chamomile
• Dried Rosemary
• Dried Spearmint
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

I buy all but Marigolds by the pound. 2 pounds for Marigolds. Mix it all in 3 or 5 gallon bucket and the herbs last me a couple days short of 2 months. To be fair I also sprinkle some in the run because it smells great and they ofc need to forage. I get it all from Amazon, and ensure it’s all organic. Herbs are $18 a pound and I get 2 months worth vs $25/$30 for small bags of premade nesting box herbs.

Pecking Veggies:

• Bell Peppers (without the top stem) Any color really but mine like the green and yellow.
• Butternut squash
• Sweet Potatoes
• Kale
• Baby Spinach
• Carrots
• Summer Squash
• Cabbage
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes (Roma to avoid dealing with removing with the top stem/leaves)

Not needed for color but putting here anyway - Sprinkled in run daily to mimic free range foraging as best as I can:

• Mealworms and BSFL
• Chopped Alfalfa (i get the kind made for horses and my girls LOVE IT)
• Various grasses and weeds I grow outside the run until I am done building grazing boxes so they dont destroy the seeds/root for regrowth.

My backyard is landscaped with fake grass and Travertine only part not landscaped is the side of the house so I turned it into the chicken run/coop and growing of free ranging stuff for them instead. It is small (10x24 of space) and I had to Tetris/custom build run and coop to give them as much space as possible ha!

I am learning as I go and minding safety for whats healthy for them with proper research, def not a chicken expert. but the important thing is limiting their non-pellet food and treats or they will not eat the 90% required pellets. I do not feed scratch in favor of using fresh veggies for the 10% of non pellet food. So far the greatest impact on color has been dried marigolds and crushed red pepper in both feed and run foraging.

As I typed this all out, I realize I have become obsessed with my chickens…Henopause is a thing