Pale yolks

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

Alice, my Warren (sorry no pici yet) has started laying this week. Have been getting an egg a day which is brill BUT the yolks are very pale (disappointing!)

She has layers pellets, access to grass/clover & all sorts of other stuff so expected the yolk to be rich yellow. What can I do to improve the colour or is this something that will improve with time? Perhaps all POL produce pale yolks?

[Snadger]

I give mine loads of old brassica leaves and this seems to do the trick!

[di]

Ditto Snadger...when ours had a couple of weeks brassica free I really noticed it in the yellowness of the yolk.Thankfully now that everything's growing well,there's plenty available for them.
Don't know if it does make a difference or not,but ours also get a handful or two of corn in the arvos.

[Flummery]

I try to make sure mine have cabbage, kale or chard every day and it does make a difference. They are golden to orange! Grass doesn't seem to have quite the same effect.

[HayleyB]

Their first few eggs are pale yolked and small but they do get bigger and better. I feed mine salad leave or anything green esp left overs.

[Hilary B]

It's the carotene, not only in carrots, but also in dark green leafy veg (and beetroot, but I can't see that being on a chook's menu). The darker the leaves the more of the natural colour they contain. It also makes Vitamin A, so bright coloured egg yolks contain more of this vitamin than pale ones.

[MaureenHall]

Definitely cabbage or outer leaves of cauli, sprouts, in fact any brassica. Even my new ex-batts have learned to enjoy them after less than a week and their egg yolks now look nothing like the supermarket eggs (not that I've had any of those for the last 18 months )

[Lemon]

Ours looove grass! Also the outside of cauli....sweetheart cabbage - not the round green one for some unknown reason! and little gem lettuce!

Oh, and pecking my veggie leaves!

[CoraxAurata]

I may be wrong but I belive comercial organic egg layers are fed Marigold seed to help with yolk colour.... but can't remember where I heard this!