Marigolds. Easiest thing within reach for you. Grow them toss them the broken up flowers. Keep and air dry a bunch for the winter. You can also sprinkle paprika or any dried red pepper on their feed. They do not experience heat from capsicum, so heat level doesn’t matter.
Alfalfa pellets (chopped up small) sold for horses or bunnies . But the bunny version my be more expensive bc of vitamins, so horse pellets that are just plain alfalfa are possibly cheapest. I’ll use the alfalfa in winter -rehydrated with hot water and mixed with wet feed. Alfalfa is 16% min protein, so you are not diluting their protein intake with alfalfa.
Turmeric: might work but I had an slightly expired bottle of ground turmeric, smelled and looked just fine. Sprinkled in wet feed for a few days….unfortunately it caused their eggs to taste off, so I’ve never used it again. Assume small -very small- amounts would add a bit of color without an off taste, but it is a more expensive spice than red pepper and paprika so no need to try it unless you already have some.
Alfalfa pellets (chopped up small) sold for horses or bunnies . But the bunny version my be more expensive bc of vitamins, so horse pellets that are just plain alfalfa are possibly cheapest. I’ll use the alfalfa in winter -rehydrated with hot water and mixed with wet feed. Alfalfa is 16% min protein, so you are not diluting their protein intake with alfalfa.
Turmeric: might work but I had an slightly expired bottle of ground turmeric, smelled and looked just fine. Sprinkled in wet feed for a few days….unfortunately it caused their eggs to taste off, so I’ve never used it again. Assume small -very small- amounts would add a bit of color without an off taste, but it is a more expensive spice than red pepper and paprika so no need to try it unless you already have some.
