A few days ago I posted this picture on my personal Facebook page.
Over the summer I added Easter Eggers and Americanas to our flock. Both of these breeds are known for throwing blue or green eggs. I am absolutely fascinated with colored eggs. (Not just for Easter) I am actually hoping to add Olive Eggers this season coming up.
Being as in love with chickens as I am, I have researched many breeds threw out the 6 almost 7 years we have been raising chickens now. 1 thing I have always looked for when purchasing a new breed is production, of course. I expect my hens to earn their keep. I prefer to have breeds that lay at least 200 eggs a year. However I have started also paying attention to egg colors. This is not for any other reason than I think that colored eggs are gorgeous and look fabulous on my kitchen counter. (so I lowered my production standards a little for vanity)
I was surprised by the reaction of many of my friends, family and customers. They had never seen or heard of colored eggs. They asked many really good questions.
"Is the inside colored too?"
No the inside of the egg, the yolk and egg white are exactly the same as store bought egg (Of course fresh is always the healthier option, you can read more about the benefits of fresh eggs in my previous post Why Fresh Eggs!).
"Is the shell colored all they way through?"
With most colored eggs the outer shell is the only part that is colored the inside shell remains white. ( I will be posting a segment down at the bottom that is a little more scientific than I am)
"Why don't we see colored eggs on the shelf at the store?"
Chicken breeds that produce colored eggs are rare breeds or cross breeds. Like I mention above, I lowered my production standards because I love the colors. Purchasing rare breeds and cross breeds is often times slightly more expensive than your run of the mill layer hens. So my answer to this question is that big industry egg farms are only interested in birds that are inexpensive to purchases 1000's of and that are the highest producers available. ( I have so many other things I could say about this but I will refrain)
"Does what they eat effect the color of the shell?"
As far as the research I have done shows the diet of a chicken has very little, if anything at all on the coloring of egg. It is however crucial to the strength of the shell and hens production as whole.
Below is an excerpt from an article that explains a more scientifically why some eggs are colored.
According to Michigan State University Extension, egg color is determined by the genetics of the hens. The breed of the hen will indicate what color eggs she will produce. For example, Leghorn chickens lay white eggs while Orpington’s lay brown eggs and Ameraucana produce blue eggs. An Olive Egger, a chicken that lays olive green eggs, is the product of a cross between a hen and rooster that are from a brown egg and a blue egg laying breed. An interesting tip is to look at the chicken’s ear lobes; typically those with white ear lobes produce white eggs.
All eggs start out white in color; those that are laid in shades other than white have pigments deposited on them as the eggs travel through the hen’s oviduct. The journey through the chicken’s oviduct takes approximately 26 hours. The shell takes roughly 20 hour to be complete. Ameraucana birds have the pigment oocyanin deposited on the egg as it travels through the oviduct. This pigment permeates the egg shell resulting in the interior and exterior of the egg being the same blue color. Chickens that lay brown tinted eggs deposit the pigment protoporphyrin on the eggs late in the process of forming the shell. The pigment therefore does not penetrate the interior of the egg, but tints only the surface of the egg, which is why brown eggs are white on the interior. In the case of an Olive Egger, a brown pigment overlays a blue egg shell resulting in a green egg. The darker the brown pigment the more olive color of the resulting egg.
Other than appearance, there are no major differences between eggs from different breeds of chickens as noted on the University of Illinois Extension’s Incubation and Embryology site.
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