Ever wonder why chickens lay colourful eggs? Me too! So, I did a little research and found some neato facts about chicken eggs!

Did you know? The colour of an eggshell is directly associated with the breed of bird – not by what she eats! Only the yolk colour is determined by diet.

Chicken eggs come in all shades of blue, green, pinkish, cream and dark, and dark brown; surprisingly, all begin white! 

White egg-laying breeds such as Leghorns do not possess pigment genes, so they just lay plain white eggs. Boring!

Brown egg layers, such as Red Sex Links, possess different pigment genes. And brown eggs come in a wide variety of shades! During the final hours of the laying process, such breeds apply a dark pigment called Porphyrin to the outside of the eggshell. The pigment is derived from hemoglobin and produced by the breakdown of red blood cells. This results in a brown-shelled egg. Different breeds have different amounts or shades of pigment. Interestingly, the inside of a brown egg is always white because the brown dye doesn’t penetrate the shell – it sits on the outside! 

There are only a few blue egg layering breeds like Amerauncanas. The blue colour, created by a different pigment called Oocyanin, originates in the bile and is applied early in the laying process. Being a different type of pigment and applied so close to the onset of the 26-hour laying process, the blue goes right through the shell, unlike the brown. So blue eggs are blue inside and out!

Green eggs, from Olive Eggers, are created by crossing a blue egg-laying breed with a brown. Green eggs are green on the outside and blue on the inside; the blue pigment is applied initially, seeps through the shell and is then covered by brown. This results in a green egg, Sam-I-Am!

Pink eggs are the result of the natural *bloom being applied over a light tan egg. 

No matter the breed, a particular chicken will only lay one colour of egg her entire life. And depending on the breed, they can lay up to 250-300 eggs per year! (So get out there and give those girls a treat for a job well done!)

And that, in an eggshell, is how we receive beautiful rainbow-coloured eggies! (But don’t let the colour fool you! Inside is all the same golden goodness).

*On all eggs, just before the egg is laid, the hen’s body instinctively adds the last and most protective coating to the shell: the bloom. The bloom is wet when applied and dries quickly. It is a protective shield, covering all the pores so that bacteria and outside gases or chemicals cannot enter the egg while trapping moisture inside the egg.

Which Chicken Breeds Lay Colored Eggs? – Fresh Eggs Daily® with Lisa Steele