White ducks feathers yellow after molt

[KCNC06]

There seems to be some mystery or debate about this question. I'm wondering if anyone here might have more information. I have White Layers and whatever you'd call the offspring of White Layers (since hybrids don't breed true I know they're technically not White Layer Hybrids). The girls are usually very white. However, after they have a good molt and have a break from laying, their new feathers come in slightly yellow. They look kind of like buttered popcorn.

The "why" is the confusing part. I've read that white birds' feathers can get a yellow tint if they're eating "too much" corn, or leafy greens. Basically foods that are high in Xanthophylls. Xanthophylls also give their beaks, feet and egg yolks that nice dark yellow. I've read that xanthophylls are responsible for the yellow coloring in all types of birds. My girls don't eat a lot of corn but they do love greens - they get a nice romaine lettuce salad every day with cucumber (skins included) and bok choy. Since xanthophylls are responsible for the yellow coloring in other birds feathers, and also give the yellow coloring to ducks' beaks, feet and skin, it seems logical that xanthophylls would cause white ducks to get a yellow tint right?

The confusion comes from a friend who says she knows everything about ducks (as she has one). She says this information about xanthophylls is not at all true. Xanthophylls give yellow coloring to beaks, feet and skin but not feathers. She says that the yellow tint is from the duck's oil and is a sign that the duck needs to be bathed with Dawn. She says yellow feathers on an adult duck are a sign that the duck isn't healthy.

Her theory doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Why would new feathers absorb so much oil that they'd turn yellow and be unhealthy? Also, why are xanthophylls responsible for the yellow coloring of all other parts of the duck, and for yellow feathers on all other birds, but not ducks?

Any ideas? I'm 99% sure she's not correct but don't have any proof...other than all the websites I've seen that say dark green veggies that are high in xanthophylls can cause feathers to have a yellow tint. (Also, when my girls start laying again their yellow feathers fade back to white.) I haven't been able to find anything that supports her statement (not theory because she knows everything) that the yellow is from oils and is unhealthy. I'm not really looking for a "told you so" with her, just tired of her telling me my ducks look unhealthy because their feathers have a slight yellow tint.

 

[Canadian Wind]

Overproductive oil gland would be my guess on this. I have a rare white Magpie (purebred from, a breeder) that turns yellow also. It's quite funny!

My theory is that after moulting, the duck will attempt to waterproof the new feathers enthousiastically, leading to the yellowing. It will fade.

Either that, or she's trying to become a duckling again!

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

Do NOT bathe your duck with dawn unless its been in an oil spill. dawn will strip all the natural oils off the duck and leave them with wet feather and potentially exposed to cold. Dawn is great for some things, like if you dog gets skunked. As skunk scent is an oil.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

Did you get your white layers from the same place? I ask because White Layers are a hybrid created from crossing other white breeds. If any of their genetics from those crosses had any European influence at all that could very well explain the buttery yellow color. At one point in the early 1900's there was a preferred strain in Europe for Pekins that were actually creamy yellow/buff tone instead of bright white. According to the British standards the cream yellow Pekins were actually preferred for awhile. Those primarily faded out because white became preferred again, but any offspring from the cream yellow Pekins could very well be still be potential carriers. Genetics can be fickle and sometimes random ones can pop up down the line that have been hiding for years.

 

[fatty and friends]

not sure why it happens, but my ducks are perfectly healthy and it happens to my 2 boys every winter. they turn a little yellow and then in the spring get white again.

 

[KCNC06]

Did you get your white layers from the same place? I ask because White Layers are a hybrid created from crossing other white breeds. If any of their genetics from those crosses had any European influence at all that could very well explain the buttery yellow color. At one point in the early 1900's there was a preferred strain in Europe for Pekins that were actually creamy yellow/buff tone instead of bright white. According to the British standards the cream yellow Pekins were actually preferred for awhile. Those primarily faded out because white became preferred again, but any offspring from the cream yellow Pekins could very well be still be potential carriers. Genetics can be fickle and sometimes random ones can pop up down the line that have been hiding for years.

I started out with 4 White Layers from TSC. I know it's expected that their babies all have the potential to inherit different genes from whatever different breeds go to make the hybrid parents. The "babies" (babies are 3+ yrs old now) have different body shapes from each other and they have different beak and feet colors so slightly different feather color genetics isn't surprising. They're not yellow-yellow obviously. More like the difference between milk and homemade butter. When I call them buttered popcorn I'm not talking movie theater popcorn, more like popcorn with real butter.

I guess I'm just very confused about how xanthophylls can cause other white birds, chickens for example, to get a yellow tint to their feathers but it wouldn't cause duck feathers to yellow. That's very illogical to me. Also, I know some white ducks who turned slightly yellow, that creamy "yellow" after a molt and stayed that color because they didn't start laying eggs again. Normally mine will start to fade back to white when they start laying. One has been very creamy yellow since October and didn't start laying after her last molt.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

I started out with 4 White Layers from TSC. I know it's expected that their babies all have the potential to inherit different genes from whatever different breeds go to make the hybrid parents. The "babies" (babies are 3+ yrs old now) have different body shapes from each other and they have different beak and feet colors so slightly different feather color genetics isn't surprising. They're not yellow-yellow obviously. More like the difference between milk and homemade butter. When I call them buttered popcorn I'm not talking movie theater popcorn, more like popcorn with real butter.

I guess I'm just very confused about how xanthophylls can cause other white birds, chickens for example, to get a yellow tint to their feathers but it wouldn't cause duck feathers to yellow. That's very illogical to me. Also, I know some white ducks who turned slightly yellow, that creamy "yellow" after a molt and stayed that color because they didn't start laying eggs again. Normally mine will start to fade back to white when they start laying. One has been very creamy yellow since October and didn't start laying after her last molt.

I have found that often the people who insist they know everything on a subject often know nothing. As soon as she started to insist you needed to bathe your ducks with dawn simply because they are yellowed. It can help with certain situations, but should only ever be used unless absolutely necessary. I'm curious you said that she has one duck? Is her duck disabled? If it is not disabled and she is only keeping a single lone duck then she really doesn't know anything about ducks.

 

[CoriM]

I have two white duclairs and one if them is totally butter yellow right now! It's so cute....I've had this happen before and eventually they've gone back to white. My ducks don't eat corn, but do get kale sometimes. I have no idea why this is, but she's perfectly healthy and I've also seen my pekin go from white to yellow after a molt, so I don't think it's anything to be concerned about.

 

[cheezenkwackers]

I started out with 4 White Layers from TSC. I know it's expected that their babies all have the potential to inherit different genes from whatever different breeds go to make the hybrid parents. The "babies" (babies are 3+ yrs old now) have different body shapes from each other and they have different beak and feet colors so slightly different feather color genetics isn't surprising. They're not yellow-yellow obviously. More like the difference between milk and homemade butter. When I call them buttered popcorn I'm not talking movie theater popcorn, more like popcorn with real butter.

I guess I'm just very confused about how xanthophylls can cause other white birds, chickens for example, to get a yellow tint to their feathers but it wouldn't cause duck feathers to yellow. That's very illogical to me. Also, I know some white ducks who turned slightly yellow, that creamy "yellow" after a molt and stayed that color because they didn't start laying eggs again. Normally mine will start to fade back to white when they start laying. One has been very creamy yellow since October and didn't start laying after her last molt.

I think you are absolutely correct. I did some googling and found an article on bird coloration originally posted in Bird Observer. It said all yellows and oranges in birds comes almost exclusively from their diet. It said, “One of the most common yellow carotenoids found in birds is lutein, which is widely distributed not only in feathers but also in bills, egg yolks, and the skin of the birds feet.” (https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/...Coloration of Bird Plumage_Robert W Ricci.pdf)
Xanthophyll is a type of lutein. If you are feeding a lot of leafy greens they are getting xanthophyll. Green leaves are green because of the chlorophyll but they also have xanthophyll. You just can't see the yellow because of the green chlorophyll. That is why tree leaves turn yellow in the fall when lack of water in the leaf causes the chlorophyll to decompose.

In addition, I found an article which said that baby ducks are yellow because of xanthophyll from their mother's diet and their own diet of insects and plants.

I also remember a story I heard at Grant's farm when I was a kid. Grant's farm, outside of St.Louis, was owned by Purina and they were researching chicken feed. They said that most chicken layer feed had yellow substances added to increase the yellow color of the yolks. So, they decided to see if they could make eggs with green or red yolks by adding different substances to the chicken feed. I worked but it also caused the birds to be tinted green or red. Some of the researchers who were taking the eggs home and eating them also took on a greenish hue. They had to stop the experiment.

All this to say, I think your logic is correct. Yellow in their food makes yellowish new feathers.