It's really funny what different feed will do for, or to, a bird. Corn will impart it's yellow color on the shanks of the legs and brassiness in some
Grasses and even baled Alfalfa will give you that dark orange yolk. Bluebonnet feeds out of Ardmore uses an alfalfa base for their poultry feed and that is the protien source too, not Corn.
A high protien content will cause Angel Wing in waterfowl and with broilers make leg problems more prominant.
Low protien at time of molt and the feathering of a chicken will just look, well, ordinary. 24% or so and the feathers will come in bright and shiney.
I never feed scratch grains, seems the birds will pick out what they like and not really benefit from the mix.
Oh yea one more thing. High Soy content can screw up the hormones in hens and may make your roosters fire blanks but it hasn't been studied near enough. Soy contains high amounts of Phytoestrogen which has been linked to infertility in some species.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens
Grasses and even baled Alfalfa will give you that dark orange yolk. Bluebonnet feeds out of Ardmore uses an alfalfa base for their poultry feed and that is the protien source too, not Corn.
A high protien content will cause Angel Wing in waterfowl and with broilers make leg problems more prominant.
Low protien at time of molt and the feathering of a chicken will just look, well, ordinary. 24% or so and the feathers will come in bright and shiney.
I never feed scratch grains, seems the birds will pick out what they like and not really benefit from the mix.
Oh yea one more thing. High Soy content can screw up the hormones in hens and may make your roosters fire blanks but it hasn't been studied near enough. Soy contains high amounts of Phytoestrogen which has been linked to infertility in some species.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens