Quail egg yolk colour...

[nadrojsack]

Has anyone noticed pale yolks from Corturnix Quail? ive been feeding a little spinaich like i do for my chickens (works a treat for them, now theyre bright orange) but the quail yolks dont seem to be changing.

Am i the only one with this issue or is it common? any suggestions? Ill post some pictures when i next have some.

 

[dc3085]

Flaccid pale yellow yolks in eggs you purchase at the store come from the way the eggs are processed. A yolk should be a deep rich color and have a little resistance if you poke at it, not that nasty runny pale yellow that store bought eggs are.

In the UK your eggs are processed differently than they are the in US though, so it may be a bit different with your eggs (though I doubt it). Here in the US they bleach our eggs and put them through various other cleaning procedures. Before they ever get near a store they could be a month old. In the UK last I read on the subject, washing eggs for sale and consumption is illegal.

If you're giving them greens you need to provide digestive grit or they can't get impacted gizzards/crops. Game bird crumble is water soluble so they need nothing more than to drink to digest it.

 

[nadrojsack]

grit is provided.
actually theyre much better is been a few weeks since ive had any spare for lunch. they were pale as pale can be, now theyre reasonable.

greens work well for colour, pleased my research has paid off.

 

[TwoCrows]

Many chicken feed manufacturers use Calendula flower extract in the crumbles to brighten the yolks. Quail feed never contains this flower so they will be paler than chicken eggs. But greens definitely color up those yolks in both quail and chicken eggs.

 

[JaeG]

Sprouting alfalfa seeds is an easy way of getting greens into quail - saves all that time chopping stuff up! The sprouts are the perfect size for quail to eat.

 

[nadrojsack]

i just buy frozen spinich and it comes in a handy ball i throw to them everyday. im currently growing barley to add to the cages.