Purina Layena sucks

[ChickenCanoe]

I do offer them grit and oyster shell on the side.

I will start mixing 50/50. Thanks a lot!

Combs are really bright red now so......nesting boxes have brand new privacy curtains and a few ceramic eggs so we are ready! Of course they will probably lay eggs somewhere in the yard but I try...

While dark red combs are a good sign, I believe a better sign of onset of lay is the space between pelvic bones. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
I once had an Orpington who's comb never got large or dark red but she was still a good layer.

It’s the bugs that give the yolk a rich color. Bugs are rich in omega 3s- and make the yolk that color.
Purina is a cheater and they add dandelion to the mix- artificially turning yolks orange.
Many egg farmers do the same thing.
Try adding in freeze dried meal worms to their diet. All of my chickens are spoiled free rangers and won’t eat a bug that isn’t moving. But if yours will eat them I’m sure it’ll help with nutritional content and color.

That is misleading and not proven out by the science. There are no carotenoids in bugs - the source of the orange color in the yolk.
You have your preferred yolk color because your birds are free ranging and eating greenery containing carotenoids.

 

[snow5164]

View attachment 1469977 View attachment 1469976 This is the stuff my neighbor feeds. He also gives them bacon fat. I’m not joking. Wish I was. Anyway, this looks like real chicken food not that processed crap purina stuff.

The label worries me though.

8% protein?? Can you even buy that ? I’m sure it says this already but that’s not anywhere near enough protein for egg laying hens they need at least 16-18%

 

[ChickenCanoe]

8% protein?? Can you even buy that ? I’m sure it says this already but that’s not anywhere near enough protein for egg laying hens they need at least 16-18%

Correct, it is scratch, not feed. Scratch is all seeds, nothing more.
As I said before, chickens are omnivores, not exclusively seed eaters.

 

[Kiki]

View attachment 1469977 View attachment 1469976 This is the stuff my neighbor feeds. He also gives them bacon fat. I’m not joking. Wish I was. Anyway, this looks like real chicken food not that processed crap purina stuff.

The label worries me though.

This is a complete feed made for laying hens by Payback:
https://www.paybacknutrition.com/products/product/egg-layer-ration

 

[Ms Biddy]

Marigold petals, calendula petals, red pepper, dark leafy greens, these things will help with yolk color. With everything dried out here, our hens don't get orange yolks in summer even though they free range and eat bugs.

 

[centrarchid]

While dark red combs are a good sign, I believe a better sign of onset of lay is the space between pelvic bones. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
I once had an Orpington who's comb never got large or dark red but she was still a good layer.

That is misleading and not proven out by the science. There are no carotenoids in bugs - the source of the orange color in the yolk.
You have your preferred yolk color because your birds are free ranging and eating greenery containing carotenoids.

That is not quite accurate. Some "bugs" concentrate the pigments of interest in a big way, others do not. It is an area poorly researched to be sure as not considered of economic importance and the industry in more interested in commodities as feed stuffs.

We keep getting away from the importance of free-range in the OP's original description of comparison.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

While that may be true to a point, it is very misleading to tell the unenlightened that bugs are the source of the dark yolks. Any bugs? It just isn't true.
Let's say I were to feed as the sole ration, a feed that used barley, wheat or white corn as the main ingredient rather than yellow corn and had no other source of carotenoids until the yolks became quite light. Then I took half the birds and added animal protein in the form of worms, crickets or some other random 'bug'. There would be no enhancement of yolk color in that group.

 

[centrarchid]

Random bug used as a blanket term for insect or arthropod is not suitable for such a discussion. Otherwise bug of the true bugs is too specific and based on their feeding habits are not likely to concentrate carotenoids regardless of life-stage.

It is not proper to put a broad brush over all invertebrates and say they can not impact yolk coloration. If we concentrate in grasshoppers and crickets without controlling for life-stage or gender, then pigment load will be comparatively low. If you emphasize adults, especially adult female of this family then you are going to see more pigments of interest as the insect stores those in the eggs, hence the orange coloration of the ovaries that can approach 1/3 of an individuals live weight and be loaded with fat and protein. If farm raised crickets are used as part of a study, then I would discount such a study out of hand based on diet commercial producers use that do not provide the crickets with carotenoids. Grasshoppers as a while appear better examples that crickets as the former invest more in their individual eggs than typical crickets.

You will also learn something if a crustacean represents a significant portion of the chicken's diet. Critters relevant to you and I are terrestrial isopods that can be very abundant in locations loaded with detritus and a fair amount of moisture.

Mollusca in the form of snails do not appear to be rich in carotenoids.


Birds in my local do not have a constant type of insects providing feeding options, the species turnover and lifestage change is very high.

 

[New2Chicks97]

My chickens get Purina Layena as well as free range and scratch grains for treats. Their yolks are a nice darker color. They far prefer Purina to a local more expensive feed I tried. My chickens eat a variety of grasses, weeds, bugs and who knows what else they catch while free ranging so maybe that makes a difference?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Random bug used as a blanket term for insect or arthropod is not suitable for such a discussion. Otherwise bug of the true bugs is too specific and based on their feeding habits are not likely to concentrate carotenoids regardless of life-stage.

It is not proper to put a broad brush over all invertebrates and say they can not impact yolk coloration. If we concentrate in grasshoppers and crickets without controlling for life-stage or gender, then pigment load will be comparatively low. If you emphasize adults, especially adult female of this family then you are going to see more pigments of interest as the insect stores those in the eggs, hence the orange coloration of the ovaries that can approach 1/3 of an individuals live weight and be loaded with fat and protein. If farm raised crickets are used as part of a study, then I would discount such a study out of hand based on diet commercial producers use that do not provide the crickets with carotenoids. Grasshoppers as a while appear better examples that crickets as the former invest more in their individual eggs than typical crickets.

You will also learn something if a crustacean represents a significant portion of the chicken's diet. Critters relevant to you and I are terrestrial isopods that can be very abundant in locations loaded with detritus and a fair amount of moisture.

Mollusca in the form of snails do not appear to be rich in carotenoids.


Birds in my local do not have a constant type of insects providing feeding options, the species turnover and lifestage change is very high.

Point taken. It was the posters first position I was responding to, which seems to indicate that they believe it to be fact;
"It’s the bugs that give the yolk a rich color. Bugs are rich in omega 3s- and make the yolk that color."
is patently untrue. I was attempting to correct misleading statements.