what do you use to make orange yolks in your eggs

[Taylor]

I have chickens and have trouble with their yolks, their always a pale yellow like the ones in the store. and my egg sales are down. PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

[OrpingtonManor]

bugs and weeds. an occasional salamander. I just turn over rocks and move flower pots for them. They do the rest.

ETA - Here is my thread that showed the difference between store bought eggs and my girls' eggs...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=276046

 

[canada-goose]

Grass and sunlight.

 

[CoopCrazy]

what feed are you giving them? do they get table scraps? Scratch?

 

[RocketDad]

Mine get table scraps, meat trimmings (cooked), carrot and broccoli stumps and trimmings, and sometimes peelings donated by an older gent down the street. The yolks aren't "orange" but they're definitely darker and more vivid yellow than the store eggs.

 

[GraceAK]

Give them lots of spinach. The dark green makes a richer yolk, and they love it. Broccoli heads work too, and other similar green stuff. Thats why grass makes em orange too

 

[speckledhen]

Green stuff. Kale, spinach, any dark lettuce, etc. Plus bugs, of course. Too much broccoli will make them taste funny, so easy on that, but it does do the trick.

 

[HippieChickens]

.

 

[titus2mommy]

Interesting. I've wondered the same thing. My Leghorns all have pale yolks but my others lay nice orangy ones. They all eat the same, and if anything the bossy Leghorns make sure they get the first pick.

Is this sometimes breed-related, or just a quirk with my girls, I wonder.

Jill in OH

 

[Mahonri]

Quirky with your girls. When my girls get their helpin' of freshly mown grass, we get orange yolks.