sadieatthebridge Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 Our Columbine's previously white ears seem to have turned yellow She seems otherwise well, though she isn't laying at the moment and is moulting. There's been no recent change in diet - she free ranges in the garden most of the day, and gets Garvo pellets along with treats. I assumed that she was just having a moult and a break from laying, but with the yellow ears I'm now wondering if it is something more sinister. Any ideas what is going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 it could be from the layers pellets depending on which 'additive' is used for adding colour to the egg yolk, at least one can make white feathers go yellow and it might affect white ear lobes the one I had was a brown egg layer and she had a slight yellow/brown tint to her ears my blue egg laying CLB crosses that have white ears have a blueish tint as does my CLB so it could be linked to shell colour but ?I'm not sure if it's more noticeable when they are laying or not laying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadieatthebridge Posted November 8, 2017 Author Share Posted November 8, 2017 Thank you. She is acting normally today, but just with yellow ears. She has however started losing feathers around her neck, but this is where my Gingernut started her moult a few months ago. When we called in for food at the breeders in the Summer, we did mention the balding neck of the Gingernut. They did mention something which could cause this, but discounted it as it was rare (can't recall what it was) and seemed to think it was just a moult. She has now almost fully regrown her neck feathers. Could it all be connected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 If she's not laying it's usual for their legs to get darker as pigment builds up (as it's not going on egg shells) so it's probably the same on her ear lobes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 29, 2017 Share Posted November 29, 2017 it could be from the layers pellets depending on which 'additive' is used for adding colour to the egg yolk, at least one can make white feathers go yellow and it might affect white ear lobes I was thinking the same things, and Garvo is fairly high in corn, which will give yellow pigment to skin, legs and egg yolk/shell pigment. The fact that they aren't laying will mean that the colour is being 'stored' rather than being used in the eggs. You will notice that the colour in a bird's legs and egg shell will gradually deplete as the laying season goes on, and then builds up again while they rest from laying over the winter, to go back out into the eggs etc the next laying season. The ring of missing feathers around the neck could just be a neck moult, but can also be rubbed off when a bird reaches through netting, or into a feeder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
