Goal of Producing Dark Orange Yolks a Huge Success!!! (Pictorial)

[farmerinKC]

That's a good-looking egg!

 

[sumi]

Well done, you and your chickens. Those orange yolk eggs are the best!

I'm selling free range eggs and most of my customers only ever had store bought eggs before. One thing I keep hearing is "The yolks are ORANGE!" or "I baked this pudding/cake/tart and it came out looking so different" They just love it.
Make some pancakes with your eggs, it's out of this world with free range eggs in the batter.

 

[PHILMAN]

LOOKS GREAT !! Cant wait for mine ! 17 week old chicks !

 

[Wildflower_VA]

I'm not sure which part or all of my feeding regime is responsible for the dark orange yolks, but I wasn't taking any chances. I live close to Joel Salatin/Polyface Farms and I have bought his eggs, and as everyone knows he is the king of pastured poultry, and his eggs don't have yolks near that dark or that tasty. He gets $4 a dozen for all the eggs he can produce. He feeds local grain that is non-gmo, but he doesn't feed organic.

I also live close to Countryside Organics and have been a customer since they opened in 1997, and I have always been an organic gardener, so there was never any doubt that I would only use their feed. The fact that they use high protein field peas in place of the soy also contributes to the "greens" that help make the dark yolks.

This is an adventure for me. In order to keep the orange yolks coming over the winter, I am growing several varieties of pumpkins and winter squash to put in my root cellar for the months without forage. I'm also growing lots of cabbage and beets to go along with the pumpkins. I started a big patch of comfrey, also, but haven't decided the best way to put some up for the winter.

 

[silkiechicken]

Carotenoids are what makes yolks orange. The more green leafy stuff = more orange. If you can get them to eat alfalfa in the winter, you'll have orange yolks too. Cracked corn will also make orangier yolks, but will also lead to fat chickens if they eat too much of it.

 

[Chick named Lola]

Beautiful egg! I give my girls fresh kale every day along with other fresh produce. I love those bright orange eggs! Good job! It doesn't need to be organic to get the color though...lots of greens, sunlight and love!

 

[goldfinches]

Quote:
Ah, okay. That explains why mine lay beautiful eggs. I feed mine tons of leafy green stuff, garden or cooking scraps and tons of handfuls of organic, lol, grass ,(weeds), from my garden.