Egg Yokes

[RustyMac]

Hi members,
I rescued a dozen hens three months ago from a battery house and they are now happy free range hens. Their feathers are coming in nicely and their cones a nice healthy red colour now. I feed them daily on a varied diet of layers pellets, mixed corn, bread and a daily helping of boiled tattie peelings or pasta/rice. The hens are laying well but the yolks are still very pale and I was wondering if there is anything else I could be giving them to give the yolk a healthier colour.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

 

[dinosaw]

Hi Rusty
Greens are what your after, grass,weeds vegetables like cabbage, spinach, brocolli and other dark greens whose natural pigment darkens the yolk. I've also read somewhere that the meat protein that they take in from insects can lead to a more orangey yolk too but they should be getting that from ranging as it is. Obviously they're your birds but I would cut out the bread pasta and rice if I was you as it has no real nutritional value and they would be better eating extra layers pellets instead.

 

[Marigold]

I agree with all of Dinosaw's advice, and would just like to ask which brand of layers pellets you give them? The better ones contain marigold petals which helps to give the yolks a nice deep colour without being an artificial colourant. Mine get Dodson & Horrell, plus greens as advised above, and the yolks are always a lovely golden colour.

 

[chrismahon]

As the others said RustyMac. We used to buy the Smallholder range of layers as it didn't contain the 3 permitted yolk enhancers (chemical colorants). If they are filling up on stuff like potato peelings and pasta I would expect the yolks to have no colour at all as they are not eating the layers pellets. I have seen yolks almost the same colour as the whites -we experimented with diet once. We found the best colourant for yolks was the dark green savoy cabbage outer leaves, but just plain grass is great. Maize (sweetcorn) helps too, but can make them fat and stop them laying. If they are not eating enough pellets their diet will be deficient in other elements, so cut the 'treats' to a minimum.

 

[valeriebutterley]

I too, agree greens are the thing for lovely dark yolks.
My girls have afternoon treats of almost anything going, apart from meat. Not too much of anything extra though, the occasional tin of tuna they seem to think is just about the best a hen can get can her beak round.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

Totally agree with all the advice - greens are what they need, plain grass is ideal if you have it, so are green leafy veg and weeds. If they are ranging on good quality pasture you won't go far wrong, although admittedly at this time of year there is a lot less goodness in the forage so supplementing from the veg patch is a very good idea Personally I would also definitely cut out the pasta/bread/rice/potato treats, they need to eat their pellets and I would give them a good quality pellet as has been mentioned. I use both Smallholder and Marriages and I have been lucky enough to have award winning eggs (contents) so I can say good quality green forage + good quality pellets work

 

[Marigold]

Would just like to add that, as they are exbatts, their mineral stores may be very low, having been run down whilst they were approaching the time when normally they would have been culled. So a good mineral supplement would maybe help as they're going to be past their best laying days, aren't they, or else the farmer would have been keeping them for the next season. I recommend Nettex Mineral Powder, which has seaweed. Probiotics and vitamins as well as extra calcium to help them make stronger shells. I add a little to the warm mash they get in winter - made from layers pellets soaked in hot water until just crumbly, and with a small sprinkling of corn.
I think that if you feed bread, pasta, rice and potato, they will eat this in place of the balanced diet that the pellets will give them, and consequently they won't get enough calcium, vitamins etc in their diet - apart from the potentially fatal problems of fat being deposited and causing egglaying and liver malfunctions.

 

[RustyMac]

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies which have answered some questions I have had. I grow my own veg/herbs also so will grow some for the birds next spring. They have plenty of ranging providing grass heather and rushes, however I shall do as suggested and change their feed for recommended by you all.
Many thanks again 17