Get orange egg yolks in only 2 days with this incredibly healthy, natural, non-GMO homemade blend! Your hens will devour these delicious tidbits that rush xanthophylls to her body and create beautiful orange yolks the right way: through nutrition from whole foods. Here’s our incredible chicken scratch + feed recipe for orange egg yolks:
Chicken Scratch Feed Recipe for Orange Egg Yolks
Let me jump right to the spoiler: Marigold petals and red pepper flakes are the magic ingredient here. They are high in xanthophylls, which are carotenoids, just like the beta carotene that gives carrots their orange color. These ingredients are flooding your hen’s body with real, whole-food nutrition that very quickly boosts yolk color because some of the carotenoids pass from the hen’s body into the yolk.
2 Days (or less) to Orange Yolks
Laying hens ovulate every 24 to 26 hours. You may begin to see absolutely beautiful orange yolks the day after feeding this wonderful scratch blend if you happened to catch your hen’s cycle just right. For those who want to gift or sell eggs containing rich golden orange yolks, begin feeding two days before the planned collection.
Orange Egg Yolk Chicken Scratch Recipe:
This recipe is given in parts so you can make as much or as little as you’d like. Simply use the same measuring scoop for each “part”. Includes Amazon affiliate links to the ingredients we used.
1 part whole oats or whole wheat berries
1 part non-GMO cracked corn (optional)
1/4 part flax or golden flax seed (optional Omega-3 fatty acid boost; we used golden flax)
1/4 part red pepper flakes (should contain dried red flakes and pepper seeds)
1/8 part dried marigold petals (optional; see below for homemade drying directions)
Directions: Combine scratch ingredients in a bowl and then transfer to a quart mason jar or airtight container. Keep very dry to prevent red pepper flakes (the dried fruit) from spoiling. Best if used within 4 weeks. Feed 1 Tablespoon of the scratch blend per hen so hens do not consume too many red pepper flakes and turn their yolks red-orange!
Note About Optional Ingredients: the cracked corn in this recipe is optional. If you cannot source non-GMO or don’t want to pay for it, please skip it! It’s there as a treat and to thin out the red pepper flakes so the hens are not given too many. Dried marigold petals are great if you can harvest and dry them yourself. Otherwise, you can skip the marigold petals. Feeding just whole oats and red pepper flakes together as a scratch is fine!
How to Dry Marigold Petals:
If you happen to have marigolds growing in your yard or garden, drying them is VERY easy! I use kitchen shears and a colander to snip off the flowering heads. The wilty and partially-dried marigold heads are also fine to use but the petals won’t dehydrate as brightly colored. Once inside, I use the kitchen shears to cut the petals from the green portion of the flower body. This severs the colored petal from the long stem that attaches it to the black seed portion. I place the petals on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place them in a 170°F oven for 30 minutes. Fresh petals will retain their bright colors when dry.
Why Is Omega-3 from Seeds Important?
Eggs are a decent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which come from the hen’s body. This means the hen must be consuming some omega-3’s. Flax seeds are a very good source of Omega-3. Note that flax seeds cannot be fed to hens long-term (over 6+ months) because of the risk of liver issues (potential fatty liver syndrome and hemorrhage). Flax seeds are a short-term “treat” that is fine in a scratch blend where each hen only gets a tiny amount. Walnut pieces are also rich in Omega-3 and can be used as another “treat” instead of flax seeds if your hens will eat them.
Beware of Feeding Too Many Red Pepper Flakes
If you give the hens too many red pepper flakes, her egg yolks will turn extremely dark red-orange. This becomes unsightly because it may appear that her yolks contain blood. They don’t, it’s just far too many carotenoids in her system, and thus in her yolks. It will take a day or two of consuming NO red pepper flakes for her yolks to calm down to a pleasant orange color again.
Some Potential Parasite-Fighting Effects
There is anecdotal evidence that hens fed red pepper flakes lay more eggs. But the capsaicin in red pepper flakes (and all hot peppers) are damaging and/or deadly to many intestinal parasites. The “laying more eggs” effect may simply be because hens consuming peppers regularly are less burdened by parasites and thus, she’s able to lay most efficiently. If you notice a boost in the nest box, this may be a scratch blend you want to offer more often to keep the good benefits coming!
Does this Hurt Hatching Eggs?
Hatching eggs are not harmed by having orange yolks! There is no expected increase nor decrease in hatch rates if an egg happens to have an orange yolk (xanthophylls present from plant based foods). One interesting tidbit is that chickens who are regularly consuming carotenes may have brighter yellow colored shanks, which offspring would not be expected to have at hatch since it is diet-related.
Is it Considered Cheating to Feed these Foods?
Maybe. If caged battery hens are being given this scratch and their eggs are being deceptively marketed as “pasture raised” or “free range”, this is completely dishonest. Please don’t do this. But if your backyard hens are fed high quality feeds, whole grains, natural seeds, and get pasture ranging time, you’re doing everything right. Green foods make for orange yolks…and the ingredients in this scratch have all come from plants.
Some hens, especially older girls, may not be eating enough greens even when given free range access. Instead, they run lesser-ranking hens off and eat all the best grains or treats. Hens generally want to eat red pepper flakes and the pepper seeds. This scratch is a great way to ensure your hens are getting the plant-based xanthophylls needed to produce orange yolks. If you are still uncomfortable with your hens eating anything red or orange in color, feeding alfalfa (including alfalfa sprouts) or dark green kale, which are both rich in xanthophylls, will also turn egg yolks golden orange!
Orange Egg Yolk Chicken Feed Recipe:
If you’re worried about your hens getting too many treats, here is an easy solution! Combine 1 cup of the orange egg yolk chicken scratch with 9 cups of their commercial feed. This creates a blend that is only 10% “treats”, which is the recommended scratch-to-feed ratio. You can find more info in our article on mixing balanced feed + scratch recipes. This also helps dilute the scratch so that no one eats too much and gets bloody looking red-orange yolks.
You Might Also Enjoy Reading:
What to Feed Hens to Get More Eggs
More Whole Grain Chicken Scratch Recipes
Homemade Chicken Feed Blend Recipes
Leave a Reply