Hey, why are my egg yolks yellow?

If you order eggs from us, you are used to getting eggs with a deep orange yolk. But, recently, you may have gotten a few eggs with yellow yolks. Gasp! Yellow yolks?! I know it’s shocking, but this does happen around this time every year. Here’s why.

Our chickens are always given free access to well-maintained pasture during the day, no matter the weather. In the warmer months, there are plenty of things to forage for. But, in the colder months, the idyllic pastured chicken setting changes. The chickens often choose to stay inside, close to the heater. And, even if they do venture out, there’s not much to eat in the winter pasture. So, in the winter, the laying hens’ diet is 100% feed, which consists of corn, wheat, peas, barley, fishmeal, flax seed, kelp, and a nutri-balancer which has kelp, vitamins, and minerals.

The color of an egg yolk is indicative of the laying hen’s diet, but not necessarily the nutritional content of the egg. A deep orange color indicates a truly pastured chicken eating a nutrient-dense diet of foraged bugs, seeds, and grasses. An orange or golden-yellow yolk means it was fed yellow corn and alfalfa meal. A pale or light-yellow yolk comes from eating a colorless diet of wheat, barley, or white cornmeal. Some egg farmers may add more yellow corn or marigold petals to darken the yolk. Thankfully, adding artificial color is not allowed.

All of these foods are “healthy” for a chicken, but the foraged food is the healthiest. According to a Penn State study, chickens that are truly pasture-raised have a higher nutritional value than those raised in a factory setting. Pastured chickens produce eggs with higher levels of Vitamin A,  Vitamin E, and beneficial fatty acids. It’s really the chicken’s complete lifestyle - diet, exercise, general well-being, etc - that affects the nutritional value of the egg. That’s why it’s so important to know your small farmer and their specific values and practices.

You may be thinking, but it’s March, why didn’t this change start in January? Well, a laying hen always has 4-6 weeks’ worth of eggs inside, being nourished every day by the hen’s diet. So, a change to a hen’s diet will take some time, about 2 months, to fully show in the eggs. You should expect those nice deep orange yolks back in a couple months!

One of my favorite egg dishes happens to be one of the quickest and easiest dishes to make – Scrambled Eggs & Cream. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Heat up a pan on the stove on medium heat. Add a generous amount of cream – about 1⁄2-1 cup. Crack eggs directly into the cream. I usually use 8 for my family. Gently stir every once in a while, until cooked. The goal is to have the eggs moist and creamy and loosely mixed, with spots of white, yellow, and orange throughout. Serve solo or with toast and bacon.