Yellow Legs

[tlck9]

Hi All, My ex batt is probably around 4 years old, she has stopped laying due to a prolapse egg a while back, thought I was going to lose her.

Anyway she has gone through a complete moult recently and is running around like she has never been ill. However I noticed her legs has turned yellow

Someone mentioned that it could be that due to her not laying that her legs are going yellow?

[Suechooks]

How strange! Never heard of this happening but I'm sure someone else has. Maybe she's just moulted the old scales off her legs and the new ones are bright and shiny? I know when birds have Scaly Leg Mite they don't lose the affected scales till they moult so could be the moult. (Not suggesting she's had SLM just using that as an example of scales coming off!)

[Glutton4...]

One of my Batties had yellow legs - that was when she was sitting, and raising 'her' Chicks. She was fed purely on Corn during that time. When she went back to the flock, and back to Layers' Pellets, her legs went back to normal. Don't suppose it is relevant to your situation, though.

[RichmondHens]

The legs I believe are a store for pigment, so if she is not laying then it's likely this is the reason. Welsummers are well known for having bright yellow legs at the start of lay, and very pale at the end, as the pigment is used up during the season and this has certainly always been the case with my Welsummers. I'm sure it is also the case with other yellow legged breeds.

[frias]

My Welsummer usually has yellow legs but she's moulting at the moment and I notice her legs are quite pale.

[jessmorris]

The legs I believe are a store for pigment, so if she is not laying then it's likely this is the reason. Welsummers are well known for having bright yellow legs at the start of lay, and very pale at the end, as the pigment is used up during the season and this has certainly always been the case with my Welsummers. I'm sure it is also the case with other yellow legged breeds.

Hi there,
I read yesterday that this is the same for Wyandottes. Carotinid (?) pigment is used for the yolks rather than being laid down in the legs so laying hens lose the pigment in their legs through the laying season. Folk who show feed feeds rich in protein to get the yellow back into the legs (I was advised to use mealworms).
JM

[Snadger]

Ah, old yellow legs the cockeral............ He was the first Light Sussex cockerel I hatched to get the chop as yellow legs are not part of the breed!

[nellie-m]

Hi there,
I read yesterday that this is the same for Wyandottes. Carotinid (?) pigment is used for the yolks rather than being laid down in the legs so laying hens lose the pigment in their legs through the laying season.
JM

It's the same for all breeds with yellow legs :-) And it's even true for my Sicilians with their green legs - the longer a hen has been in lay, the more greyish her legs become. The green colour is a "mixture" of yellow and black pigment, so when the yellow is diminished, the legs appear grey. Pullets at point of lay have the best leg colour, and that's also the best time to show them (ideally, they lay their first egg in the show cage ;-)

Nellie

[jessmorris]

Ho-ho, I wish mine flippin' well would! (Lay their first egg - in the show cage or not!)

[Hilary B]

Hi there,
I read yesterday that this is the same for Wyandottes. Carotinid (?) pigment is used for the yolks rather than being laid down in the legs so laying hens lose the pigment in their legs through the laying season. Folk who show feed feeds rich in protein to get the yellow back into the legs (I was advised to use mealworms).
JM

Protein may be needed to get the colour into the legs, but surely the precursors of that pigment also need to be present in the food?
One of the best sources of those is carrots, or 'dark green' leafy veg (carrotin is also a precursor of vitamin A, it gives egg yolks and carrots their colour, and turns a bright green leaf several shades darker)