One of the most interesting aspects of life in Brazil is our unique approach to food. We are connected to the local farms of friends and relatives, who pamper us with organic produce. Chicken eggs vary in size and shell color, but if they come from a family farm, the yolks will almost always be darker and thicker than those from factory-farmed eggs.

In the United States, all eggs sold are yellow. Whether organic or cheap, they’re all yellow, and the internal texture isn’t very firm. What’s the reason? Maybe because all these eggs come from poor-quality hens? Have you ever seen an orange egg? It took me 30 years to see an egg from a healthy hen.

Last year, I was able to compare my chicken farm with that of factory farms. The difference was clearly visible: the yolks of our farmed eggs were not only dark orange, but also fuller and denser. Even the shells were tougher and harder to break. But what’s the secret to orange egg yolks? Besides being a highly desirable color, orange egg yolks are the result of a balanced and highly nutritious diet. Several factors contribute to this result: xanthophylls, omega-3 fatty acids, and meat. Xanthophylls are a type of carotenoid. Carotenoids are natural plant pigments found in many fruits and vegetables. Beta-carotene, one of the most well-known carotenoids, is generally considered responsible for the orange color people typically associate with carrots. But in reality, beta-carotene contributes to the nutritional quality of egg yolks, rather than their color. The carotenoids that cause egg yolks to darken are xanthophylls, which are more easily absorbed by the yolks. (Lutein is one of these xanthophylls, and the more there is, the more orange the yolk will be.) Xanthophylls are found in dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, and collard greens, as well as zucchini, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in flaxseed and algae, two important ingredients in my chickens’ diet.

Chicken and kale

And did you know that chickens aren’t meant to be vegetarian, no matter what it says on your premium package of factory-raised organic eggs? Chickens are omnivores by nature, and their healthy diet includes meat, as well as mealworms, beetles, grasshoppers, worms, and pretty much any other creature they can find in the soil. I’ve even heard of chickens hunting small rodents and snakes!

When all these sources are incorporated into your chickens’ healthy diet, the nutrients they consume are transferred to the eggs and concentrated in the yolks. According to Mother Earth News, which conducted its own analysis of eggs, and a more recent study from Pennsylvania State University, eggs contain high levels of vitamins A, D, and E, more beta-carotene, and more omega-3 fatty acids.

All this means that a pasture-raised egg is the healthiest. And that’s one of the reasons we raise chickens, right?

So how do we get those delicious, deep orange yolks from our backyard chickens?

Let your chickens roam freely and eat whatever they find in the ground to get that orange yolk.