Yellow legs- bleaching- questions??

[Minky]

I found this 10 year old post but unfortunately the OP hasn't been on here for a decade! Can anyone tell me more about this? I think it's fascinating.
The thread was talking about why a yellow legged hen's legs start to fade....
Here is an answer someone posted :

"This is a process called 'Bleaching' - it is very useful in determining how lazy of a layer your hen is. If you raise a yellow-skinned breed, you can sort out he less productive hens by the color of their skin after they have been laying a while. The same pigment that makes egg yolk yellow colors the skin of the yellow skinned breeds. When a hen starts laying, the skin of her various body parts bleaches out in a certain order. When she stops laying, the color returns in reverse order. You can therefore tell how long a yellow skinned hen has been laying, or how long ago she stopped laying, by the color of the exposed skin on her beak and legs."

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

I found this 10 year old post but unfortunately the OP hasn't been on here for a decade! Can anyone tell me more about this? I think it's fascinating.
The thread was talking about why a yellow legged hen's legs start to fade....
Here is an answer someone posted :

"This is a process called 'Bleaching' - it is very useful in determining how lazy of a layer your hen is. If you raise a yellow-skinned breed, you can sort out he less productive hens by the color of their skin after they have been laying a while. The same pigment that makes egg yolk yellow colors the skin of the yellow skinned breeds. When a hen starts laying, the skin of her various body parts bleaches out in a certain order. When she stops laying, the color returns in reverse order. You can therefore tell how long a yellow skinned hen has been laying, or how long ago she stopped laying, by the color of the exposed skin on her beak and legs."

That's pretty amazing if it's true.

 

[CatsandCrops]

I have never heard of this before - hmmm *goes off to fall down the google rabbit hole*

 

[GC-Raptor]

You can therefore tell how long a yellow skinned hen has been laying, or how long ago she stopped laying, by the color of the exposed skin on her beak and legs."

I have three 2 year old Barred Rocks.
Two are regular layers, 10 eggs last week between them.
The third hen hasn't laid since June, a Fox or Bobcat got a Flock mate while Free Ranging.

It seems to be true with my Barred Rocks purchased as day old Chicks at TSC. GC

 

[Minky]

I have three 2 year old Barred Rocks.
Two are regular layers, 10 eggs last week between them.
The third hen hasn't laid since June, a Fox or Bobcat got a Flock mate while Free Ranging.View attachment 2376247
It seems to be true with my Barred Rocks purchased as day old Chicks at TSC. GC

So the yellow legged hen is the poor layer??? white legs is good?
please confirm. this is fascinating!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Works with leghorns also.

 

[GC-Raptor]

So the yellow legged hen is the poor layer??? white legs is good?
please confirm. this is fascinating!

Yes, pale legs is a good layer at least with Barred Rocks and Leghorns. GC

 

[Minky]

Yes, pale legs is a good layer at least with Barred Rocks and Leghorns. GC

great to know.chickens r cool.

 

[LaFleche]

This comes with some reservation as it also depends of the kind of feed the chicken get.
Producers nowadays offer a variety of poultry feed, some especially for exhibition breeders that contain even more artificial colouring additives than the normal chicken feed.

Corn, carrots, grass, beetroot and other natural ingredients will also help to maintain the nice yellow leg colour even though the hen is a prolific layer. So I would recommend to not sort out your hens only based on their leg colour.

 

[CluckerFamily]

This is very interesting!! I never even thought of this before. Mother Nature is always surprising us!!