VT KTU March 24th exhibit- "Rainbow Eggs"

Before an egg is laid, it begins as a yolk in the hen. The white portion of the egg is added later, followed by the hard outer shell. The yolk is formed in a series of layers that are put down each day as the yolk develops. If a hen is fed pills filled with non-toxic dye, that dye will appear in the fatty parts of the hen's body after a few days. This includes the developing egg yolks. We fed red and blue dye capsules to white leghorn hens on alternating days for one week. Then, we collected and hard-boiled the hens' eggs. As you will see, the yolks have a series of colored layers. These red and blue layers correspond to the days that the hens were fed either red or blue dye, demonstrating how the yolk is formed.

The Poultry Club at Virginia Tech is a group intended for students of all majors who are interested in learning more about or becoming involved in either poultry science or the commercial poultry industry.