Sudden pale yolks

[Henflummoxed]

Hi! My Ameraucana has always had a paler yellow yolk, but she just finished a mini molt and started laying again, and her yoke is paaale. Looks more like vanilla custard than egg yolk. Should I be concerned? She eats corn based laying crumbs, she get regular nutritious treats including greens (I worry I give them too much sometimes). I understand yolk colour is diet based but my other hen on the same diet has normal coloured yolks. Thanks for any insight!

 

[LaFleche]

Deworming can help.

If they also free range she might have developed a liking to shepherd's purse which also causes lighter yolks.

 

[Henflummoxed]

Thanks, I was wondering about deworming...

 

[LaFleche]

Thanks, I was wondering about deworming...

I would deworm the entire flock and collect/scoop up the poop in their coop and run daily during deworming.

 

[Henflummoxed]

I would deworm the entire flock and collect/scoop up the poop in their coop and run daily during deworming.

Thanks, I will give that a go..

 

[Mrs. K]

Test for worms before you worm. No need in worming if they don't have them.

I sometimes have hens that lay lower quality eggs, - I just use those to cook with, and do not hatch them.

 

[nuthatched]

What's the diet, exactly.

 

[Henflummoxed]

What's the diet, exactly.

Corn based laying crumbs. Daily handful treats of various things..chopped apple, cucumber, spinach, veggies etc. Sunflower seeds, freeze dried meal worms. Sometimes a little plain yogurt with chia and flax seeds tossed in. They have grit and oyster shell available. They dont free range currently, but I'm building a fenced in lawn area for grass time. I have two new dogs that want to roll in fresh chicken poo sadly.

 

[Henflummoxed]

Test for worms before you worm. No need in worming if they don't have them.

I sometimes have hens that lay lower quality eggs, - I just use those to cook with, and do not hatch them.

I didn't know you could test for worms, I'll look into that..thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since your other yolks are fine then this is an individual hen issue, not something you need to treat the whole flock for.

Yolk color is diet based. Some Layer chicken feed contains dried marigold flower petals to color the yolks. Yolk color has nothing to do with nutrition of the yolk, just color.

This hen has always had pale yolks, just not this pale. Some diseases can cause something like this but since your other yolks are fine I'd not worry about that. I personally don't worm my flock or treat anything unless I have evidence that they need treating. If you do worm because this one hen is laying lighter yolks then worm your entire flock and observe the withdrawal times for that specific wormer for the eggs.

Since it is diet based it is possible that hen is avoiding certain foods that contain the pigments to color egg yolks. Since she has always been this way that does not sound reasonable but I try to never say never.

My guess is that there is something about her digestive system where she does not process those dyes properly. The yolks are grown in her body cavity before they are dropped in her internal egg making factory so whatever is happening has nothing to do with her shell gland or any other part of that assembly system.

As long as she is behaving normally and not sick I'd be OK with eating her eggs. Since I consider it a flaw and it might possibly be genetic I would not hatch her eggs. If you sell or give your eggs away you might not want to include her eggs as your customers might be concerned.