You have probably seen those pictures of eggs with really dark egg yolks. Here is how you can get dark orange egg yolks from your chickens
When shopping for eggs you might notice that the cheaper eggs have pale, yellow yolks while the more expensive eggs have orange yolks.
You might think that the darker egg yolks indicate that the hens were fed a better diet, but this is not always the case.
Why Are Some Egg Yolks Orange
When chickens eat a rich diet of carotenoids the pigments transfer to their egg yolks. Many fresh foods contain lots of carotenoids.
This is one reason people think orange egg yolks are healthier. Egg yolk color is just determined by the chicken's diet not on the chicken's environment.
Orange yolks don't always mean a chicken had a diet of fresh food though. Many feed brands add carotenoids to their feed mixes.
The easiest way to do this is by adding marigold petals to the chicken feed. This is harmless and even healthy for the chickens, but it can falsely indicate a fresh food diet.
3 Ways To Get Orange Egg Yolks
Here are a few ways to get orange egg yolks from your chickens. If you want the most vibrant egg yolks try a combination of these tactics.
Free Range Your Hens
The number one thing you should do to get orange egg yolks from your flock is by allowing them to free range.
When chickens free range they have access to leafy plants that cause orange egg yolks. Free range chickens lay nutrient dense eggs with orange yolks.
Feed Them Carotenoid rich foods
Here is a list of some common foods that you can give your chickens to make their egg yolks more orange.
- Pumpkin
- Tomatoes
- Carrots
- Peppers
- Spinach
- Cabbage
- Corn
- Kale
- Sweet Potatoes
- Squash
- Watermelon
- Green Herbs
- Marigolds
- Nasturtiums
- Other Edible Flowers
That was not an exhaustive list, but as you can see fresh foods with dark pigments are what chickens need to lay dark orange egg yolks.
Add Dried Marigolds To Their Feed
You can dehydrate marigold flowers and add it into your chicken feed for orange egg yolks. Your chicken feed might already have it in it.
You can check the ingredient list on your feed to see if your hens are already eating marigold petals. You can also dehydrate edible flowers like calendula and nasturtiums which will have the same effect.
Do Egg Orange Yolks Indicate More Nutritious eggs?
I am not a doctor or nutritionist, but according to this article carotenoids are very good for you. Carotenoids convert to Vitamin A in your body which is necessary for good health.
Vitamin A contributes to eye health, heart health, and can even protect against cancer! So yes, orange egg yolks are more nutritious because they have higher amounts of carotenoids.
Remember though, a dark orange egg yolk doesn't nessecirly mean that the chickens were allowed to free range. It just means that they had a diet high in carotenoids.
Signs An Egg Has More Nutrients
Here are some other signs that your chicken eggs have a high concentration of nutrients.
The White Has Some Color
The more yellow or orange the white part of an egg is the more Vitamin B2 it contains.
Thick Egg Shells
If a chicken egg has a very thick shell it means the chicken a lot of calcium in it's system. This could mean that the part of the egg you eat also contains more calcium
Firm Egg Whites
The whites of your chicken's eggs should stand up in the pan. This means that the egg is very fresh.
Fresh eggs contain more nutrients because as an egg sits, it slowly loses nutrients.
Conclusion
Orange egg yolks can indicate higher levels of nutrients, but it does not always indicate that a chicken was allowed to free range.
If you want orange egg yolks from your hens, feed them carotenoid rich foods, let them free range, and add dried flower petals to their feed.
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