Chicken's feet are pale

[berryncherry]

Recently, I have been looking at the photos of my chickens from quite a while back. That's when I noticed that my two comets and two leghorns used to have bright yellow feet. Now, the leghorn's feet are pale and almost white. The feet of my comets are also pale, and the color looks like it's fading. Would there be something wrong with the color of their feet? If so, how can I cure it?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

How old are they? Older, egg specialty breeds can start bleaching as they get older

 

[berryncherry]

The hens(two comets and two leghorns) are all about 1 year old.

 

[NatJ]

For yellow-skinned chickens, the more eggs they lay, the paler their skin gets. The color is going into the egg yolks instead. This does not hurt the chicken.

This can even be used to tell which hens are better layers. I've seen charts about which parts bleach in what length of time. I don't remember the order, but the vent, beak, and legs all lose their yellow color. When the hens take a break from laying (like for molting), the yellow starts to come back. If some hens have much paler legs than others, they are probably your best layers!

 

[berryncherry]

Thanks for the information!

 

[divineData]

The hens(two comets and two leghorns) are all about 1 year old.

Inam noticing the same with my leghorns! They just turned a year old and I am worried that the white legs are a sign that something is wrong?? Please can anyone shed some info?

 

[NatJ]

Inam noticing the same with my leghorns! They just turned a year old and I am worried that the white legs are a sign that something is wrong?? Please can anyone shed some info?

That was already answered:

For yellow-skinned chickens, the more eggs they lay, the paler their skin gets. The color is going into the egg yolks instead. This does not hurt the chicken.

This can even be used to tell which hens are better layers. I've seen charts about which parts bleach in what length of time. I don't remember the order, but the vent, beak, and legs all lose their yellow color. When the hens take a break from laying (like for molting), the yellow starts to come back. If some hens have much paler legs than others, they are probably your best layers!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

For yellow-skinned chickens, the more eggs they lay, the paler their skin gets. The color is going into the egg yolks instead. This does not hurt the chicken.

This can even be used to tell which hens are better layers. I've seen charts about which parts bleach in what length of time. I don't remember the order, but the vent, beak, and legs all lose their yellow color. When the hens take a break from laying (like for molting), the yellow starts to come back. If some hens have much paler legs than others, they are probably your best layers!

This is fascinating! May I ask where you learned this? I am not questioning the veracity of what you are saying. I just want to read the same sources you read! Many years ago I read a library book called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Chickens - But Didn't Know Who to Ask." It was pretty complete, but I don't think this particular nugget was in there! (Come to think of it, if it's still in print I wouldn't mind having a copy of my own!)

 

[NatJ]

This is fascinating! May I ask where you learned this? I am not questioning the veracity of what you are saying. I just want to read the same sources you read!

Someone gave me a book published in 1925, and I think that's where I first found it.

The book is titled "Practical Poultry Management," with authors James E. Rice and Harold E. Botsford

That book mentions research dating back to 1908 on the subject of yellow pigment and what it tells about persistency of laying.

I haven't seen other copies of that exact book, but some of the other poultry books from that era might have the same information. I know some old books are now available online on various sites.

A google search turned up this page as well:
https://csuhort.blogspot.com/2016/04/determining-your-hens-productivity.html
It appears to have the same information.

https://mysrf.org/pdf/pdf_poultry/p13.pdf
This is a .pdf about judging Leghorn hens in a show. It talks about placing the birds according to lack of yellow pigment, specifically because that is an indicator of being good layers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you!