What egg yolks can tell about the health of it’s chicken

Most of us enjoy eating eggs. Omelettes, scrambled, hard-boiled eggs... all delicious options. Or at least most of the time. But have you ever noticed not all eggs look the same? Some have bright yellow yolks, other eggs have dark orange ones... What does it all mean? Does the colour of the yolk say anything about the chicken or about the nutritional value of the eggs?

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5. Are you able to see which egg is healthy?

People have said the colour and shape of egg yolks can tell you something about the health of the chicken. The general consensus is that the firmer, darker and rounder the yolk is, the happier the chicken that laid it. Well, scientific research has been done to solve this mystery.

4. What causes the variation in colour?

Apparently, the fact that egg yolks come in different colours doesn’t say anything about the chicken’s health or lifestyle, or about how healthy the yolk is for the person who eats it. All it reveals is what the chicken had been eating before it laid the egg.

3. The colours explained

If the food the chicken ate was rich in wheat, the yolk will be yellow. If the chicken had a more balanced diet (corn and alfalfa), the yolk will be darker. This is due to the carotene contained in the alfalfa and the corn.

2. Consequences

Did you think the colour of egg yolks had any incidence on the nutritional value or the taste of eggs? Well, no. Egg yolks all contain vitamins A, D, E and K no matter what their colour or the shape.

1. Free-range chickens

And while we prefer to buy free-range eggs, the living conditions of chickens have no influence on how healthy eggs are.