Old farmer / neighbor said "no grass"?

[jennmugg]

Yesterday my neighbor, who has been farming / raising livestock since the 50's told me that if I let my chickens free range or eat grass their yolks will come out a very "unpleasant orange yellow". Thoughts?

 

[jsimplytx125]

yum!! Would you rather have sickly almost white yolks?

 

[TipsyDog]

I can't think of any other word for this remark than "idiot". Don't mean to be rude but that's just the dumbest thing I ever heard!

Was he a commercial chicken farmer who just wanted pale dull and bland eggs? Must've been!

 

[jbowyer01]

My egg yolks are a brilliant orange. I get alot of compliments on them from my buyers. My chickens free range all day and eat lots of bugs and grass (not including their treats and pellets).

 

[TexasVet]

He's crazy... commercial egg producers feed their chickens marigold petals to turn the yolks a darker orange, because the look better. And, Mother Earth News compared free-range, grass-eating chickens eggs to store-bought, and the free-range eggs had 10 times the vitamins and nutrients. So let the chickens eat all the grass they want.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com, www.AustinCountyBB.com

PS: After I mow, I rake up the grass and throw it in the chicken yard.

 

[ChooksChick]

I can understand a bit what he means- last fall we had girls loving on new grass, and the yolks were dark orange with a weird bit of a green hue- past the rich orangey yellow we normally see- truly a little green!

It did freak me out a tiny bit, but I'd take that any old day compared to the anemic pasty stuff you get from poor battery hens that eat anything and everything plus newspaper....

 

[jennmugg]

My response when he told me that was "is that bad?"... Just wondered if I was off base, but judging by the comments it was he who was off base. I'll continue to let them chow down as much as they want. We also give them mowed grass and move the tractor every few days to give them fresh grass.

 

[chseeads]

Yeah...the "unpleasant orange yellow" seems to be what everybody wants when they talk about 'farm fresh' type of eggs....so not sure where that guy's ideas come from.....

I actually never have been one to care if yolks were dark or not, to me an egg is an egg either way....lol....

 

[gritsar]

The whole reason most of my egg customers buy my eggs is for their rich orange, tasty yolks!
I'm with Tipsy. The guy is an idiot.

 

[kycklingmamma]

Isn't that what you would want? I mean golden orange yellows??
I would pay extra for that in the store.