Experts close to unravelling green egg yolk mystery in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: In a curious case, about six hens in a poultry farm in Kerala's Malappuram have laid eggs with green yolks. The hens, belonging to A. K. Shiahbudeen, are being examined by experts, and they are close to unravelling the mystery, said an official.

Speaking to IANS, poultry expert P. Anitha from the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), said they had taken two hens from the owner to conduct some tests.

"We started feeding these hens and after a week or so, the egg yolks have started to turn yellow. We gave these hens the normal feed. Later we decided to conduct more laboratory tests and killed one hen. What we could find out from the initial scientific examination is that in the fat of the hen, there was some soluble material and hence more tests will be done," said Anitha.

She said according to earlier studies if one injects a colour dye into a body it gets accumulated in the fat.

"We will not say that such a thing was done to the hens belonging to this peron. One thing we found out is that in this particular hen there were no genetic issues. From our preliminary assessment this was caused due to non-genetic factors," added Anitha.

"We told Shiahbudeen to give the hens that he has the same feed that we are giving. After 10 days, he said that the egg yolks have started to turn yellow. So now we will have to wait as more tests will be done," said Anitha.

But Shiahbudeen says he has been giving only the normal feed, which included vegetable waste and such things.