yolk colour ?

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hawkeye185

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I have warren hybrids about 26 weeks old and 90% of them are producing good clean eggs.
They are 100% free range and spend about 10 hours forraging in the hedgerows daily and I supplement there feed with layers pellets and fresh cut green vegetation. The yolk of the eggs seem to be a pale yellow and not as orange as I have seen in other free range eggs .
will the egg yolks colour improve with time or is there something natural that I can add to the diet to improve colour?
cheers Hawkeye 185
 
Good morning Hawkeye,

There is a previous thread called "The taste of eggs" where we were talking about the color of the yolk. I believe it was stated that there is a dye that is put into some feeds, plus some flowers can effect the yolk color.

I am sure your eggs taste wonderful, so is the color that important? Mine free range as much as yours do and I too give them layers pellets, although I did cut back on their free ranging hours. We were getting some soft eggs, so I leave them in their run till around 11 am, that way they are forced to eat more of their layers pellets. There's not too much calcium in the bugs and grasses that they eat throughout the day. Anyways our egg yolks are brighter than store bought, but I have seen other "Fresh" eggs that have a yolk bolder than ours. Our eggs still taste wonderful.

Check out the other thread.

Good luck Hawkeye,

Wrigley
 
Hi Hawkeye, I haven't kept chickens long enough to know whether yolk colour changes with age. I thought it was related to diet but no doubt some of the more experienced members will comment on that.

I did quite a lot of research into what was in the various brands of layers pellets available locally:-
Some had the permitted chemical colourants - a defininte nono for me;
Some had things like paprika or saffron, and others had marigold petals or lucerne.

We eventually decided to stop using commercial feed and mix our own grain based consisting of wheat, cut maize and rolled barley with a splash of cod liver oil. All the hens free range all day on grass and in the hedges. We changed because, unless you buy Organic layers pellets it is impossiblr to guarantee that the soya protein (as well as the other ingredients) are not GM. Even feed producers who do their best to stay GM free cannot guarantee this as their suppliers won't give them the guarantee.

Before we changed the diet the eggs from different breeds of hen (all pedigree except for the little bantam and the Silkie cross) had different coloured yolks (Welsummer, Barnvelder, Favarolle, Cream Legbar, Silkie cross and bantam). In the first 3 weeks after the change they still varied in colour then all the Houdans (eggs usually kept for breeding) went into moult and the others stopped laying. They have started again and so far all the eggs have had the deep yellow/almost orange yolk.

As I understand it, the hens get "yolk colour" from the cut maize in the ration and the grass they eat free ranging.

Check the ingredients of your layers pellets for any of the above - there may be nothing by way of colour enhancer. I bought "commercial" local free range eggs when ours were off lay and their yolks were surprisingly pale.

You might find that giving them corn (ie cut maize) as a treat will improve the yolk colour.
 
Yes I expect the maize is colouring the eggs, but best to not to give them very much as its very fattening. Some people suggest not more than one eggcupful per day per hen, for treats, and only feed maize as part of the late afternoon feed in winter, to help them through the long cold nights.

Feel free to shoot me down, but am I the only person on here who doesn't consider GM ingredients in feed to be necessarily the work of the devil? Personally I would only feed pellets without synthetic colourants but I'm not too worried about insisting on GM free soya and grain.
 
thanks for all your replies I will concentrate on the taste and ignore the colour and see what time will bring?
many thanks Hawkeye.
 
For me it's a bit more than that Marigold, after all we are genetically modifying our chickens whenever we cross breed. Personally I avoid soya so I'm not really happy about getting it via my eggs and I do like to know what I'm eating - I'm an old fashioned cook in that I cook from scratch and also try and support local producers. It's not a hobby horse but it has prevented OH from developing type 2 diabetes. (Takes time though particularly as the caravan kitchen is limited and food storage inefficient).

Howver one important reason why I avoid GM foods is the attitude of the seed suppliers.

Generally speaking the big companies have arranged things so that farmers cannot save their own seed to plant next year, which has a devastating effect in many poor countries. They get locked in to buying seed from a major corporation, and then you find that we have lost biodiversity so when a problem arises you can find a very high percentage of the world's food production is vulnerable to the same pest/disease.

Nature is wonderful and the bugs etc can mutate almost as fast as the crops are modified and become more resistant to control methods - you only have to read posts on this forum about varying treatment from time to time to see that.

BTW the feed recipe came from someone who has been feeding his chickens in this way since the BSE scare - he's reverted to the way father fed his hens, and all his birds look fantastic.
 
Good morning Margaid,

About that feed recipe, you just mix it all together? What are the proportions? What about calcium, do you give them Oyster Shells?
I wouldn't mind giving it a try. It sounds "Old School", I mean chickens have been around for a long time and somebody had to be feeding them something befor these big feed companies came around. So, why not, so long as the girls don't mind.

Thanks
Wrigley
 
Hi Wrigley,

We have just started giving them oyster shell to make sure they get enough calcium. They pick up enough grit as they free range all day across meadows and peck the lime mortar out of the stone walls.

The summer ration is 3 parts wheat to one part cut maize and one part rolled barley. You mix some cod liver oil into the wheat - just enough to make the wheat grains glisten, it only needs a small amount. Then add the cut maize and mix again, then add the rolled barley which also absorbs any excess cod liver oil. We mix enough for a few days so there is plenty available if my friend's OH feeds the hens.

The winter ration is 2 parts wheat to 1 part cut maize to 1 part rolled barley. Have a look at this website http://castlefarmeggs.co.uk he's a great guy and all his birds looked really healthy. He gives the chicks Apple Cider Vinegar in their water from day one. Again, his birds free range (the Leghorns can be a couple of fields away) except when they are in the breeding runs which are about 36 square metres - he uses Heras fencing panels, 2 across and 3 down the run.

I'm hoping to get some of his Exchequer Leghorns and Welsh Blacks, and a couple of Brilleys as they lay blue eggs.
 
I knew I wanted to add something else - had a senior moment.

All his birds, except those in the breeding pens are running around together. When I went to see him a few weeks ago there were 12 week old Welsh Blacks, a mature Welsh Black cockerel and several mature hens (the Leghorns were across the fields) PLUS at least 3 hens with flocks of very young chicks, some only about a week old. They were all scratching about happily and you don't have the problem of needing separate feeds for growers and layers. He says he has never had any problem with the chicks or young birds being attacked BUT he has lots of space and 2 "chicken dogs" - border collies that round up straying chickens, so he doesn't have a fox problem either.
 
Margaid, I thought you were going to say castle farm ;) havent been up there, but his grain diet sounds very good. If I had more space I would feed mine the same.
 
Thanks Margaid,

That's a great site with lots of information. I think I might give the "Homemade" feed a try. I don't think it will hurt them and if they don't seem to like it I can always go back to pellets.

Thank again,

Wrigley
 
Hi ncotb,

If you have the time he's well worth a visit, especially during the breeding season, but make contact first. He's really helpful although doesn't have a lot of time for timewasters ot idiots. You know the type - ask a qusetion, get an answer, ignore the answer/advice then come bleating because things have gone wrong and they want digging out of a hole.

I can't wait for his next "diary" entry!
 
Our hens have a tendency to throw out the rolled barley Wrigley. I asked about it and one suggestion was that we were putting in too much codliver oil which the barley will absorb. I don't always mix the feed so I'm not sure how much goes in, I err on the side of caution as they don't need it every feed but I think my friend worries that there isn't enough. We mix enough for several days and store it in a plastic dustbun so her husband can feed the hens easily.

When we started we got the wheat from a local dairy farmer but it had quite a lot of barley mixed with it. As far as we can tell they ate that, so maybe it's the texure of the rolled barley that puts them off. The yolks are a fabulous colour and the taste is wonderful.
 
Yuo have to be very careful about how much cod liver oil you add, whatever you are putting it into. On one occasion last winter my hand slipped and more went in to their mash than I meant to add. They ate it OK but the eggs tasted really fishy and nasty for a day or so. Also I believe there are toxic effects from an excess of Vit. D, is that right? Perhaps it's best just to add a little in winter, to help compensate for the lack of sunlight?
 
We're using about 50 ml (2 capfuls if I do it) in quite a lot of feed - the mix at the moment is 3 parts wheat, 1part cut maize and 1 part rolled barley. The scoop is quite large and round - bit like a Wok but not quite so deep and it's a shallow cap on a 5 litre container.

I mix the cod liver oil into the wheat by hand so the grains just glisten but my hand is only slightly oily, then add the maize and then the rolled barley which absorbs any excess cod liver oil. There has been no taste transfer to the eggs, believe me I'd know - cod liver oil brings back horrible memories of my Infants school, but they may be chucking some of the barley out because it has too much oil for their taste. I tend to err on the side of caution with the CLO but I'm not sure what happens if the feed is mixed when I'm not there.

All my Welsummer eggs are now between 65 and 70 grams.

I take Vitamin D3 myself because I don't get enough sun - but who has this year? It stopped OH's SAD last year, but it must be D3.

Yes I think cut maize is cracked corn Wrigley. I have to be careful to use the word "wheat" whereas I would normally have called it "corn" as you find in old hymns. In some African countries it is referred to as "mealie". Just to be certain, maize is quite orange when uncooked - it's the plant that produces several leaf covered cobs on a stem at least 5' high here. We eat it as "sweetcorn kernels" or as "corn on the cob" when the cob is cooked whole. Chinese cookery uses little baby cobs - which have no flavour. The kernels are dried and cut (or cut and dried - not sure of the process) into smaller pieces, particularly for feeding to birds.
 
Hi,I tried the all grain diet on my chicken and am sorry to say that I didn't have very good results
There were several problems as follows:
1/the eggs got smaller
2/feather eating increased.
3/some of my birds started egg eating.
4/I have noticed a general decline in the condition of my birds.
I also tried some meat birds on it both Hubbards and CBMarran/Hubbards and IG/CB Marran crosses.All of them really liked the grain.But,
1/they didn't put on as much meat as the pellet fed ones especially on the breast.
2/when I gutted them I had to fight my way through an extremely thick layer of fat to get into the body cavity.Which would cause a big problem if they were layers.To much fat in this area will stop a hen being able to lay.
I felt they just weren't getting enough protein,I tried supplementing this with other things,but it didn't work.
In the end I have switched back to pellets,and all the problem ceased.
I think if my birds had a far larger area to free range this may work.
I really wanted this to work for financial reasons as much as anything £200 a tonne rather than £300 quite a saving.

I think the truth is there are two ways to feed birds:
Old school all grass diet supplemented with grain,which is fine if you have acres of land for your birds to graze over and you don't mind going hunting for eggs.
Modern well early 20th century,a pellet diet supplemented with grass.
In my view for the health of your birds pellets are the only way of ensure the health of your birds all year round,unless your birds have accesses to an endless supply of grass dawn till dusk 7 days a week.
Pellets are designed to give the laying bird every thing it needs to thrive,when kept on a smaller are of land with out an endless supply of forage.

Egg yokes in commercial eggs are died that color orange with an additive.As a kid I worked on a battery farm,they used to add this powder to the feed to dye the egg yokes orange,if you added to much they turned red and then eventually blue.

Graham.
 
It's a shame it didn't work for you Graham, what mix did you use? Unfortunately everything, including pellets, is going to get more expensive with the poor harvest/poor yield. I bought a 25kg bag of wheat yesterday and it had gone up 30p, which is £12/tonne and that will just be the start.

Our neighbour had finally managed to start combining but then had to stop and the combine has been sat in the same place for several days. At last we have some sun so maybe he'll get going again - I was intending to buy some wheat from him once it was harvested. Most of the farmers round here have hardly been able to start harvesting.

I can only assume that it is the lack of area to free range - but just because they have acres to range over doesn't mean you have to hunt for eggs. All our girls come home to lay (my Welsummers are still on their hols at my friend's) and all of them except the one dippy Houdan (supposed to be show quality so maybe the brain has been bred out!!) and the cockerels come home in the evening. The worst birds to get to bed are some hybrid pullets which have just started to lay - all the others are tucked up by about 6.30 but the hybrids want to stay out until it's dark! Although potentially they have many acres, they generally stay in the field around the electric enclosure, the track to the house and the garden.

I see that your meat birds are not pedigree - what about your layers? Maybe that's another difference, it will be interesting to see how my friend's hybrids fare on the grain diet compared with the others.

As I've said above, my Welsummers are laying big eggs, the shells are really strong and the flavour is fantastic. My friend's Cream Legbar has started laying well again as has the non-broody Faverolle. The broody Faverolle is mothering 2 Houdan/Silkie cross crosses - a mistake, but that's another story. The Houdans have all been moulting but are starting to lay again.

The guy I got the diet info from has (amongst other breeds) his own crossbreed which is Black Austrolorp/Indian Game and the cockerels dress out at about 7lb. There's little fat on them and he's also never found any signs of worms - but until they're put in a pen to finish them they're running around with all the other non-breeding birds. The hens are good layers and also good broodies so I'm hoping to get some from him soon provided I can get things set up here in time, otherwise I'll get some eggs and a broody from him in the spring.

Some layers pellets have permitted chemical colourants, others use "natural" colour - anything from paprika extract to marigold petals. Our eggs get colour from the grass they eat and the cut maize in the grain diet. Last time I bought commercial free range eggs the yolks were small and a very pale yellow - made the scrambled egg look grey!!!
 
Hi, I agree with you on feed costs I can buy grain for £180 a tonne,but I am paying £277 for layers and £296 for grower pellets pet tonne.As I said I was very keen to feed a mixed grain diet I liked knowing what I was feeding and I particularly like it for financial reasons.
But I think to sagest it is a diet suitable for a chicken is not correct,just as man can't live by bread alone a chicken cant live by grain alone.You can't simply swap pelleted feeds for a grain diet.It's not high enough in protein and is far to high in fat,and is bad for the birds on both counts.
The only way a all grain diet will work is on birds that are kept in a true free range situation with an endless supply of grass and insects to eat,grass itself is 16% protein and low in fat the same as layers pellets.
There are very few people who are able to supply their bird with this amount of free range,most people keep a few hens in there back gardens housed in some sort of run.
The reason that soft pulpy foods (mash) or pelleted (mash) were developed in the first place in the early 1900's was so that chickens could be taken out of large free ranging fields,and kept in runs or farmed on a larger scale eg reducing the ratio between land per bird.

Graham.
 
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