Yellowing on White Birds and Marbling of Eyes. Help Please?

[rodriguezpoultry]

Hello all, I recently purchased some white Langshans and am curious as to what causes yellowing in white birds? I remember from when I raised white Giants, any corn even in the vicinity turned the feathers yellow. Dust-bathing wasn't that large of an issue with getting yellowed feathers but some birds yellowed worse than others. I've also heard it's the same as sun-damage except the feathers turn yellow instead of the brown color that black birds have when sun-damaged.

So, my question is, is there anyone that can post photos of birds that have:

sun-damaged
corn-fed
dirt-caused
or genetic yellowing?

If anyone has specific examples of each type, I would be grateful to see them! If you have a combination of these or know what caused the yellowing, please give me your ideas!

Thank you for any help!

Also, if you have any ideas as to keeping birds that tend to yellow that gorgeous bright white that is somewhat elusive to anything but a cotton ball, I'd love to hear them.


ETA: I was going to make a separate post, but didn't want to take up more space than necessary. Does anyone know what causes marbling in the eyes? I was "told" that marbling is caused by worms. I've noticed that none of my birds have marbling, but the new whites do. Is this true? Either way, I've wormed them but would like to know if there is any truth behind it?

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I also remember reading that when birds are molting, those new feathers have more oil on them, which can make them look yellow. I've been giving my white silkies Dumor feed 20% and they are nice and white.

 

[hinkjc]

From what I am seeing with raising white orpington and white araucana, I think there are multiple factors at play. However, I do think there is something about the genetic makeup that progresses yellow worse. I have birds in the same pen, all on the same diet, exposure to the same sun and so on - some get yellow and some don't. Could it be due to the gold/silver factor? Or is it tied more closely to the recessive vs dominant whites? I know I have some recessive and some dominant in both breeds. I also noticed the ones that hatch with more gray in the down are brighter white as adults. I think the ones that hatch as a cream/yellow chick yellow easier.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I can't wait for these birds to start laying so I can see what I've got going on in them. I'm sure they will be the yellow down instead of the silvery-yellow down. Just by having them in cages and on a diet with no corn, the yellow doesn't seem as intense as it was. It might be my imagination or hopefullness, but the younger cockerel has a lighter yellow going on.

Any ideas on the marbling in the eyes?

 

[lildinkem]

I now have two different White breeds. A pair of White Orps and a single lonely White Rock cockerel. I do see the feed I give them change one of the White Orps color to a blotchy yellow stain this past fall. But, now I brought him and his mate inside, into the breeder room with my Mottled and newly found Blue Banty Orp, and now I do not see it. Maybe dirt on him, for what ever reason he is back to being white. Maybe he molted out the yellow, I did see alot of white feathers before all this lovely weather came in. My White Rock is solid all snowy white. I talked to Doug and he said I would not see any yellow from his line of White Rocks. I however do not know what the lineage of my White Orps are. And sometimes the feed, IF it has alot of corn will yellow, not only their feathers, but can help yellow the skin on Yellow skinned birds. I have read this on Bob Blosi's Heritage LF thread. Skin color and apparaently feather color can be altered "SLIGHTLY" by corn in the feed or as bob says Alphalfa leaves. IF you use Purina, they tend to use only veggie based proteins I believe you will see more yellowing. I am so new to these two varieties I am not concerned about the yellow. I still use 1/3 Purina Flock Raiser in my feed, and do not change anything for the Whites. IF this is happening due to feed try Dumor 15% LAYER blend. Dumor uses mostly animal proteins. Like pigs snouts, ears etc. And is a great feed. If your just starting your flock, you MIGHT want to hold off from giving away any of the offspring till you raise up some that you hatched from these Whites you now have. I like to really know what I am producing. I have seen many sell their eggs, only to find out down the road they needed a nicer male, and sold off many who they wish they could have back to use in their breeding program. So take care of yourself first. I use a very different male and is easy to see which traits come from him, and which come from my Black Orp and Blue Orp hens. I noticed that the traits thrown tend to change about every 10 to 15 days. So i do not believe that the same pair will throw continually the same looking birds. I like to see a whole season of hatching what the throw. Then the next year I can more accurately predict what I will get.

 

[KyBlue]

I was told by a successful white Wyandotte breeder to mark all my smokey-downed chicks because they had the Silver gene. He said they would stay a brighter white and wouldn't yellow.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
The whites I'm just starting out on. None of the birds will be sold until I am well-endowed with whites. Then, I "might" sell some of the lesser birds, but I'm known for having really bad luck, so I will probably keep them until I know I am in the safe zone. I don't like to sell chicks and I don't believe I will sell eggs any more. There's too much of a chance that the bird hatched by someone else could have really helped my breeding program.


Thank you KyBlue. I'm going to have to separate eggs inside of the incubator. I'm going to be putting some whites with my blues to improve the size and type of them.

 

[lildinkem]

That is how I think. I have never sold any of my black Orp eggs.