Chickens That Lay Colored Eggs
Chickens lay eggs in many colors, ranging from blue to white to varying shades of brown. Though the color of the shell does not affect the taste or nutritional value of the egg, it does make it look appealing.
Besides white or brown, blue or green eggs are also not unheard of. And though it may be hard to believe, there are also pink eggs. However, these are rarer, and only specific individuals in certain chicken breeds have been recorded to lay them.
How Do Chicken Eggs Get Their Color
As the shells are made of calcium carbonate, they start as white inside the hen. Once the eggs begin to develop, pigments called porphyrins are secreted from the hen’s uterus, which adds color to the shell. For instance, a brown pigment called protoporphyrin is responsible for brown eggs. However, the same brown pigment will mix with a blue pigment called oocyanin to add a green hue to the shell. The genetics of the hen are the main deciding factor in the final color of the eggshell.
Chickens That Lay Different Colored Eggs
| Color of the Egg | Chickens That Lay Them |
|---|---|
| Blue | Ameraucana, Araucana, Cream Legbar, Easter Egger, etc. |
| Green | Olive Egger, Isbar, Favaucana, etc. |
| Pink | Salmon Faverolle, Light Sussex, Asil, etc. |
| White | Black Minorca, Ancona, Polish, Holland, Egyptian Fayoumi, etc. |
| Brown | Croad Langshan, Plymouth Rock, Australorp, Golden Comet, Rhode Island Red, etc. |
| Dark Brown | Marans, Welsummer, Barnevelder, Penedesenca, etc. |
It is worth mentioning that some eggs, like those of the Croad Langshan and some Marans variants, have been reported as having purple shells. But no eggs can be naturally purple. It is not their actual color but the result of a protective layer, i.e., the bloom coating the shells, which alters their appearance.
FAQs
Sometimes, it might be possible to tell the shell color by the hen’s earlobe. Hens with white earlobes typically lay white or lightly tinted eggs, while those with red earlobes most commonly lay brown eggs. However, this process isn’t always right, and exceptions do occur.
