Now that you know that all it takes is a little forethought into what a hen eats to make darker yolks, here’s a list of supplemental treats to offer your backyard flock to help give a darker color to their yolks: Leafy greens: kale, spinach, leaf lettuce (not iceberg), broccoli leaves Orange vegetables: pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots
Full Answer
Are double yolk eggs good for baby chickens?
In fact in India these eggs are highly sought after and certain types of chickens are kept to specifically lay double yolkers. If you have several younger hens and they are good laying breeds then the chances of getting a double yolker are good for the first few months.
Can a chicken lay two yolks at once?
A double yolk is possible if you find heavier and larger eggs in the nesting box. Additionally, you can candle your eggs. You should see two distinct yolks inside the shell. A relatively young pullet or an older hen nearing the end of her laying phase is usually the one that produces two yolk eggs.
How do you get a double yolk egg?
Commercially, most double yolkers will be discarded as "irregular" when candling, so getting farm fresh eggs from new, young hens might be the only good way to get a double yolker. Even then, the vast majority of hens will not produce eggs with two yolks inside.
How can you tell if a chicken has two yolks?
You should see two distinct yolks inside the shell. A relatively young pullet or an older hen nearing the end of her laying phase is usually the one that produces two yolk eggs. Therefore, if you happen to have a hen that fits the above clues, you may just find a double yolk egg surprise!
How often do chickens lay double yolk eggs?
about 1 of every 1,000 eggsDouble-yolk eggs occur in about 1 of every 1,000 eggs. (Mathematically speaking, this means that keeping four hens that average ~125 eggs each a year over a two-year period might result in a single double-yolk egg.)
Can a chicken lay an egg with two yolks?
Chickens that lay double yolk eggs are usually young hens that have just started laying eggs. Their egg machinery is not quite in sync yet and multiple yolks are one of the possible outcomes.
What do you feed chickens to make egg yolks darker?
"So, typically a diet high in dehydrated alfalfa will give you darker yolks." You can also give your chickens treats that are high in xanthophyll, such as carrots, apricots, pumpkins, red cabbage, and the leaves of most green plants.
How do u get double yolk eggs?
You can get a double-yolk when the ovary is too 'enthusiastic'. The ovary produces one yolk, and instead of waiting for the normal period of one day, it quickly produces another yolk. The two yolks then move together through the rest of the process, and get laid as a single egg—with two yolks inside.
Can you buy a carton of double yolk eggs?
Or, if you want to take matters into your own hands, you can actually buy them. There's a Pennsylvania-based egg company called Sauder's that actually sells something called Double Yolk Eggs, which are double yolk eggs by the carton.
How can I improve my chicken egg yolk color?
Give your chickens plenty of fresh greens to increase the lutein in their yolks. The darker the green the better, so I often fix them a feast of edible amaranth (one of my favorite summer greens), kale, mustard greens, broccoli leaves, or whatever I happen to have growing in my garden.
What to feed chickens to get bright orange yolks?
What to feed hens for orange yolks? If you want to try an experiment of your own here are other things you can feed to get darker colored yolks: alfalfa, cabbage, collards, dandelions, kale, spinach and orange veggies like carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and apricots.
What feed makes egg yolks orange?
It's the xanthophyll and carotene that creates a nice, bright orange egg yolk. Carotene is mostly found in orange-colored foods such as carrots, cantaloupe, mangoes, papayas and pumpkins, while xanthophyll is mostly found in green leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and turnip greens.
How rare is a triple Yolker?
about one in 25 millionA one-in-25-million chance "I managed to find some data from the British Egg Information Service suggesting a double-yolk egg is about one in 1,000 and a triple-yolk egg is about one in 25 million," she said.
Can a chicken lay a triple yolk egg?
Even more rare is an egg with more than 2 yolks. Triple yolkers occur from time to time, and in fact, it's possible to get more yolks in an egg. The most yolks ever found in an egg was 11.
How rare is a two yolk egg?
Double yolks are fairly rare – you might find them in 1 of every 1,000 eggs. These eggs typically come from our younger hens who are still just learning how to lay eggs. Double-yolked eggs also tend to be very large.
How rare is a quadruple yolk egg?
one in 11 billionAccording to the British Egg Information Service, the odds of discovering a quadruple-yolker are a staggering one in 11 billion, according to a news release from Dakota Layers.
Double Yolkers
Double yolks are fairly uncommon, around one in one thousand eggs will be a double yolk. Triple yolks are exceedingly rare, but not unknown! What happens is that a yolk is released and then another is released within a couple of hours. These two yolks get encased in one shell.
Egg within an Egg
Imagine you crack open your egg to reveal…another egg! These are fairly rare events fortunately. No one quite knows why this happens – the completed egg suddenly changes direction, reverses back to the uterus where it receives an albumin coating plus another shell. Very occasionally, the reversed egg will bump into the next egg on the ‘conveyor belt’ and another shell will be laid over both eggs! Needless to say the egg will be large so the hen is not to be envied trying to lay that egg. Although strange, the egg within is safe to eat. gif (1×1).
Bumpy Shells
Bumpy, irregularly surfaced, or gritty surfaced shells that feel like sandpaper are caused by uneven distribution of calcium across the shell. There can be a few causes of this harmless appearance, the incidence being higher in hens that lay early in their lives.
Soft Shells and No Shells
The shell in these eggs can be super thin, leading to a parchment look to the shell, or the egg is laid with only the outer membrane and no shell at all! Younger hens can produce them while they are coming into regular lay.
Blood and Meat Spots
Blood spots occur inside the shell. When you crack an egg the yolk can be lightly blood tinged. This is nothing to panic about. A small blood vessel around the yolk burst and leaked out a minute amount of blood. This may not be attractive, but the egg is fine to eat.
Summary
The reproductive system of the hen is pretty much in constant motion – from releasing the yolk to building and laying the egg. The cycle is repeated daily so occasionally there is a malfunction. We have talked about several different ‘oddities’ in eggs today.
Hens' insides sometimes make mistakes, resulting in double- or even triple-yolk eggs. Here's how it happens and some associated egg myths and legends
Collecting the day’s fresh eggs from nest boxes is one of the greatest pleasures of keeping backyard chickens. Each day, hens can be heard kicking up a fuss as they lay their eggs. What a delight it is to enjoy the harvest of their work, not to mention that of the chicken keeper.
From the Inside Out
Each hen has two ovaries; however, she really uses only one of them for egg production. The ovary looks like a small cluster of grapes and represents all of the eggs or ova (yolks) that she will lay during her reproductive life. It takes 25 hours for the hen’s body to produce one egg.
Doubling Down
About an hour after a hen lays her daily egg, her body keeps the production line moving by releasing another yolk into the oviduct. However, young layers, hormonal imbalances or overstimulated ovaries sometimes misfire and release the next yolk too soon.
Egg-xaggerations
Many cultures have hatched their own superstitions when it comes to eggs.
Myth & Mystery
At one time, double-yolk eggs that were discovered during candling were pulled from being sold because they were considered defective. Today, as ideas around cholesterol have changed, double-yolk eggs have become more acceptable. They provide a double shot of protein.
Internal Assembly Line
Influenced by the increasing daylight, a hen’s reproductive system is constantly in motion. Ova or yolks are developing and detaching from the ovary, as they move through the oviduct they collect the egg white and key membranes that hold the egg together on the inside.
