How to make yolks more yellow?

cmtigger

Chirping
8 Years
Mar 23, 2011
103
2
91
I bought 10 coturnix quail in June, and ended up with 4 hens and 6 roos. The hens started laying last week, but I'm disappointed in their yolk color. I'm sure it's because I'm feeding Startena, along with oyster shells. They need something else in their diet to get the color- any suggestions? I don't have a lawn for grass, but can possibly feed some weeds. I also have a bunch of apple trees, but that's a seasonal treat. Has anybody tried the omega 3 boosters for chickens? Any other ideas?
 

cmtigger

Chirping
8 Years
Mar 23, 2011
103
2
91
I don't have a lot of choices in gamebird feed- Purina (which is what I'm feeding) and I think that the feed store might be able to get nutrena for me, but I don't know what the quality of the nutrena is out here for game bird feed. TSC also has Home Grown, but I think that's just Purina, and it's for older game birds so it's lower protein than the Startena.

The person I got them from was feeding them organic chicken feed and the lower protein scared me after what I read, but I can go back to that if it won't hurt them.

ETA- I have chickens, I could mix some of their feed in, would that help? The chickens are pretty much free range so they get all sorts of other stuff to eat too. I sell the eggs and I know that my customers like dark yolks.
 
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TwoCrows

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Premium Feather Member
11 Years
Mar 21, 2011
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New Mexico, USA
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Greens make yolks color up brighter. Try adding green veggies to their diet like broccoli, peas, potted up grass, even alfalfa hay leaves will work. Quail love to dig thru hay looking for seeds and they will readily eat alfalfa hay leaves. All of these will add color to pale egg yolks.
 

Habibs Hens

Cream Legbar Keeper
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Mar 31, 2012
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Lutein and Zeaxathin is added to milled pellets here in UK, they are found in and extracted from marigold and maize extracts

and also Citranaxanthin, that is found naturally in citrus fruits
 
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cmtigger

Chirping
8 Years
Mar 23, 2011
103
2
91
Well, I offered them kale scraps yesterday when I was giving them to the guinea pigs in the same shed. So far they looked at them like they were poison. This is going to be tricky! I'll try some alfalfa hay, and if they won't eat that, then I'll look for alfalfa meal, or grind up some pellets and mix it into their food....

Do they like to peck at alfalfa blocks?
 

speedy2020

Crowing
11 Years
Jul 24, 2010
1,715
437
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Well, I offered them kale scraps yesterday when I was giving them to the guinea pigs in the same shed. So far they looked at them like they were poison. This is going to be tricky! I'll try some alfalfa hay, and if they won't eat that, then I'll look for alfalfa meal, or grind up some pellets and mix it into their food....

Do they like to peck at alfalfa blocks?

I gave my grass clipping and lettuce leaves.
 

jadelhoch

Hatching
6 Years
Apr 3, 2013
9
0
6
Thanks for the input,, I have horses so i do have alfalfa cubes,, what i have been doing is adding water to the cubes and than giving them to my chickens. Our neighbor down the street is feeding corn, both our chickens free range. His chicken's yokes are much darker than mine. I am just starting to feed cracked corn, and still alfalfa.. I will follow up in a few weeks and see where it goes.. also! Unfortually i purchased this bunch of sex linked from a local farmer, who debeacked! My neighbor , for some reason , also feed sunflower seeds.. do you think my chick's can handle the seeds!! Thanks so much
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James the Bald

Songster
7 Years
Jan 6, 2013
1,022
133
206
I bought 10 coturnix quail in June, and ended up with 4 hens and 6 roos. The hens started laying last week, but I'm disappointed in their yolk color. I'm sure it's because I'm feeding Startena, along with oyster shells. They need something else in their diet to get the color- any suggestions? I don't have a lawn for grass, but can possibly feed some weeds. I also have a bunch of apple trees, but that's a seasonal treat. Has anybody tried the omega 3 boosters for chickens? Any other ideas?
I'm kind of curious; does the color of the yolk change the way the eggs taste? It was kind of interesting reading this thread, 2Crows suggested a way to "brighten" the color, but you actually want "darker" yolk. I normally don't compare the colors of the yolks before I make an omlette, but now you're going to make me start looking.
 

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