🥚 Chicken Egg Colours: What Do They Mean & Which Breeds Lay What?

If you've ever wandered past a farmer's market egg stand or collected eggs from a backyard coop, you might’ve noticed something surprising: chicken eggs come in more colours than just white and brown!

From soft blues and rich olives to speckled browns and even pinkish tints—chicken egg colours are a beautiful (and natural) rainbow. But what causes this colourful variety, and does egg colour affect taste or nutrition?

Let’s crack into it! 🐔✨

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🌈 Why Are Chicken Eggs Different Colours?

The colour of a chicken’s eggs is determined by genetics—specifically, by the breed of the hen. Each hen lays one colour of egg her entire life, although shades may slightly vary depending on factors like diet, stress, and age.

The base shell colour is always white. Pigments are added as the egg travels through the hen’s oviduct, where it picks up its final colour in the last few hours before laying.

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🥚 Common Chicken Egg Colours & the Breeds That Lay Them

🤍 White Eggs

• Laid by: Leghorns, Andalusians, Anconas

• Fun fact: White eggs are the most common in commercial settings because Leghorns are prolific layers.

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🤎 Brown Eggs

• Laid by: Rhode Island Reds, Australorps, Hy-Line Browns, Brown Shavers, Orpingtons

• Shade: Can vary from light tan to deep chocolate

• Fun fact: Brown eggs have a pigment called protoporphyrin deposited over the white shell.

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💙 Blue Eggs

• Laid by: Araucanas, Ameraucanas, Cream Legbars, Easter Eggers

• Fun fact: The blue colour (from a pigment called oocyanin) actually penetrates the entire shell—it’s blue inside and out!

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💚 Green & Olive Eggs

• Laid by: Olive Eggers, Easter Eggers, Isbars

• Fun fact: Green eggs are a cross between blue-egg layers and brown-egg layers. The brown pigment is layered over a blue base, creating shades from sage to olive.

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💜 Pink or Tinted Eggs

• Laid by: Light Sussex, Plymouth Rocks, Silkies (occasionally)

• Fun fact: These aren’t truly pink, but rather light brown or cream eggs with a natural bloom that gives a pinkish tint.

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🤎 Speckled Eggs

• Laid by: Welsummers, Marans, Barnevelders

• Fun fact: The speckles are just extra pigment deposited at random. Totally safe and 100% natural!

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🍳 Do Egg Colours Affect Taste or Nutrition?

Nope! Despite the myths, the colour of an eggshell does not change the taste, nutritional value, or quality of the egg.

What does make a difference is:

• The hen’s diet

• Her living conditions

• The freshness of the egg

So a brown egg from a free-range hen will often taste richer than a store-bought white egg—but not because of the colour. It's because the hen likely ate a more varied, nutritious diet.

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🐔 Can One Hen Lay Multiple Colours?

Nope—each hen lays one egg colour for life, based on her genetics. However, Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers are hybrids, so if you hatch your own from a mixed flock, you may get a colourful surprise!

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🔮 How to Tell What Colour Eggs a Chicken Will Lay

One trick: look at their earlobes!
It’s not 100% accurate, but hens with white earlobes usually lay white eggs, while those with red earlobes usually lay brown or tinted eggs. Blue and green egg layers are the exceptions.

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🥚 Final Thoughts: Embrace the Egg Rainbow!

Eggshell colour doesn’t change what’s inside—but it sure makes collecting eggs a lot more fun. Whether you’re after rich chocolate browns, pastel blues, or sagey greens, adding a variety of breeds to your flock can turn your egg basket into a natural masterpiece.

And hey, who doesn’t want a carton of rainbow eggs to show off at brunch?

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Ready to start your colourful egg adventure? We’ve got the breeds, the feed, and the gear to help you raise happy, healthy layers of every shade!

– The Chook Manor Team 🐓🌈

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