[Jacinta]

Hey everyone, we had our first egg on Easter Sunday, quite apt really.  It was eaten fried at around 90 seconds old!  It is also the first egg our Rhode Rock has ever laid and was a double yolker, my question is about yolk colour.  The yolk was quite pale yellow indeed, not the vibrant rich colour i was expecting (as a week old chicken keeper).  The are fed layers pellets with treats of meal worms, broccolli, sweetcorn, wheat and cabbage with the odd live worm as i dig them up.  Why was it so pale?  Is it just because it will take a while for them to get into their routine?  Thanks in advance.

[Helenaj]

First eggs tend to be a little pale and/or odd shaped, but it also depends on their diet. As long as she gets a balanced diet, the more she lays the more golden the eggs will become.

[SurreyLass]

Oh how lovely to have your first egg on Easter Sunday!

My girls have been laying a few weeks, and the early ones were paler, but they seem to be getting darker. One of my ladies has been laying for about 3 weeks ish and the other about a week and a half ish and the yokes deffo started paler.

Great isnt it, that feeling of knowing who laid your egg!

[Jacinta]

It's amazing.  Of the 3 i have, i wasn't expecting her to be the first!  Betty blue rinse the Coral Nick i have has a much bigger, redder comb so thought she'd be first.  But i'd been watching Evil Edna trotting into the coop, scratching about and coming back out again.  She's very vocal and chatty anyway, but i thought something was different about her.  She went into the coop and went all quiet for about 20 mins, i went to look as soon as she came out and there it was!  Pretty perfectly formed too except a bit small and long!  Hopefully Betty and Cilla (Cause she looks like Cilla Black) won't be far behing so we aren't sharing one egg at a time! 

[ANHBUC]

Hi Jacinta,

Congrats on your first eggs.  Any pictures of your new girls?   What breed is Cilla and where did you eventually decide to get them from?

[Aidy]

Lutein is the yellow pigment in the yolk, this can be enhanced by feeding them greens, kale, cabbage etc, however the layers could also be responsible, some layers will have natural additives to give a yellower and some are design for a more natural yolk colour (feed peeps words not mine) Again it will be better with age.

[Jacinta]

Afternoon all, i got them from Durham Hens in the end and they travelled exceptionally well.  Cilla is a columbian Blacktail, Betty is a Coral Nick and Evil Edna is a Rhode Rock.  Photo's are on route, i'll try and get them up tonight, we've just been really busy!  They have demolished a whole cabbage this morning and are just starting on some more broccolli, greedy little *!  I've just stuck some Diatom in their feed too, not sure when they were wormed before they came n the lady said it's impossible to overdose them? 

[Aidy]

Diatom!!!!
Never ever heard of that for worming, we normally use Flubenvet.

EDIT: See article here.... http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=47778.0

[Jacinta]

Cheers for that Aidy, the lady at Durham hens said it can be used as a wormer in food and that it also treats internal parasites?  Make any sense to you?

[Ice]

I believe you can enhance yolk colour further by feeding them grated carrot.

[Aidy]

I believe you can enhance yolk colour further by feeding them grated carrot.

Well sort of, as I mentioned the yellow pigment in yolks is lutein, now in carrots there is carotenoids, of which lutein is one of them (lutein protects the retina in our eyes(this is where the old WW2 rumour about eating carrots help you see in the dark comes from)), however for the body to extract the lutein they also need lipids, now I am not sure how this will effect the yolk as chucks dont realy have a high lipid intake that I am aware of, I only know how it works for our eyes!
Now every morning my chuckles get a porridge made of layers, finely diced carrot, garlic and oregano, this is then mixed with 100ml of hot water and 5ml of Battles poultry tonic.
The idea is that the carrot enhances the flavour (not colour) of the egg, apparently Italians feed carrot and they test better (jury still out), the garlic and oregano help keep them fit and healthy and they go mental for it of a morning.

[Ice]

Your chickens eat beter than me.

[Lindeggs]

Cheers for that Aidy, the lady at Durham hens said it can be used as a wormer in food and that it also treats internal parasites?  Make any sense to you?

I heard the same thing about Diatomn in their food, so I have been feeding it since I got my pullets a couple of months ago.  I also give them crushed garlic, cider vinegar and pumpkin seeds - all as natural worm control methods.

Unfortunately none of these things worked.    My chickens got worms, so I have had to resort to chemical wormers.

I will continue with the various other bits and pieces in their food, but will no longer be trying to use them instead of chemical wormers.

[Aidy]

I dont think there is such a thing as a natural wormer, Flubenvet really is the only thing to use.
I also use ACV and as mentioned garlic in their breccy, oregano is supposed to be magical when it comes to respiratory problems, the only problem is that mine hate it so I mix it in to disguise it (just like having kids all over agian  ).

[Jacinta]

Cheers again Aidy!  I've had a look at the info for diatom again on the Durham hens site, says it is a wormer but i'll trust you and your knowledge.  I never intended to just use only natural products after reading lots of posts on here.  I'll keep adding a little to their food to aid digestion, but i'll use a proper wormer too.  I'll give the oregano a go too!  Best beef up my herb garden!