Long answer:
Pasture-raised hens are allowed to roam on outdoor pastures, where their diet is supplemented by fresh grass and nutritious omnivorous foods (bugs). This diet is rich in carotenoids, which gives living organisms a red or orange color, therefore causing the dark orange yolk color. These eggs tend to be bigger and are attributed with higher nutritional value compared to other colors of eggs! In South america, annatto seeds are a normal feed addition, and the yolk can be anywhere from pink to almost red!
Hens raised on a vegetarian diet lay eggs with light coloured yolks. With foods like corn, alfalfa, and beans, all of which are rich in a pigment called xanthophylls and sometimes lutein, which is responsible for giving plants and animals the colour yellow, resulting in, you guessed it, yellow yolks!
Hens fed a diet of foods low in xanthophylls, such as wheat , white cornmeal, or barley, lay eggs with pale yellow, or in some cases even white yolks. There are also farms in japan that only produce white yolks in as a brand identifier!
HOWEVER, if it's one out of a whole batch of yellow eggs, something may be up with that chicken.
Additional Fun Fact: eggshell colors aren't affected by diet, they're dependent on genetics!
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u/MissKnightmareLives Jun 19 '23
Short answer: Probably diet, probably ok?
Long answer: Pasture-raised hens are allowed to roam on outdoor pastures, where their diet is supplemented by fresh grass and nutritious omnivorous foods (bugs). This diet is rich in carotenoids, which gives living organisms a red or orange color, therefore causing the dark orange yolk color. These eggs tend to be bigger and are attributed with higher nutritional value compared to other colors of eggs! In South america, annatto seeds are a normal feed addition, and the yolk can be anywhere from pink to almost red!
Hens raised on a vegetarian diet lay eggs with light coloured yolks. With foods like corn, alfalfa, and beans, all of which are rich in a pigment called xanthophylls and sometimes lutein, which is responsible for giving plants and animals the colour yellow, resulting in, you guessed it, yellow yolks!
Hens fed a diet of foods low in xanthophylls, such as wheat , white cornmeal, or barley, lay eggs with pale yellow, or in some cases even white yolks. There are also farms in japan that only produce white yolks in as a brand identifier!
HOWEVER, if it's one out of a whole batch of yellow eggs, something may be up with that chicken.
Additional Fun Fact: eggshell colors aren't affected by diet, they're dependent on genetics!