The colour of the yolk doesn’t say much about its nutritional value. It’s mostly down to the pigments in a hen's diet. If a hen eats lots of yellow-orange pigments (called xanthophylls), you’ll see a darker orange yolk.

When hens are fed yellow corn or alfalfa meal, their yolks turn a medium yellow. A diet of wheat or barley results in lighter yolks, and if they’re on a colourless diet, like white cornmeal, you might even crack open an egg with an almost white yolk!

Weather can also play a role in yolk colour. Windy days can spook hens because of the noise it makes on the sheds, and heavy rain or snow keeps them from roaming and nibbling on grass and flowers. Once the weather calms down, the yolks usually return to their regular colour.