Tired of the Same Old Eggs? Try Blue, Chocolate, Green or Pink

If you're planning on owning chickens for eggs, you probably are wondering if you should have brown or white eggs. But there are other colors available in chicken eggs - and you don't even have to wait for Easter to enjoy blue, green, pink or even chocolate colored eggs.

Colored Eggs?

When people think about chicken eggs, they think about the color of the shell. Most white eggs come from chickens of Leghorn breed. They're good producers and work well in a factory environment. Most commercial brown eggs come from a cross known as Hubbard Isa Brown. Production Reds, another cross, also produce a large number of brown eggs.

But there are other egg colors than just brown and white. The chickens that produce these eggs aren't well suited for factory farms, but they produce interesting colors nonetheless. These egg colors are in a myriad of colors, but they taste the same and have the same nutritional value and cholesterol amounts as white or brown eggs.

Why Own Chickens That Lay Colored Eggs

When small flock owners are looking to establish their own flock, they're often looking for a bit friendlier bird than the production birds, or maybe a bird breed with a different character. This is why brown egg-producing chickens are popular in small farms - many interesting chicken breeds produce brown eggs.

You may be wondering why bother owning a chicken that lays green or blue eggs at all, if the egg tastes the same and has the same nutritional value. The reason is novelty and perhaps the knowledge of owning a pet whose eggs can be readily distinguished from grocery store eggs. Many owners like and enjoy the looks and personalities of the chickens that produce these unusual eggs.

What Breeds Lay Colored Eggs?

There are a number of chicken breeds and crosses that lay colored eggs:

Easter Eggers - The Easter Egger is a mixed breed chicken and not an actual breed. These chickens have their roots in the Ameraucana breed, but are not considered a breed at all. These chickens may lay any colored eggs, but usually green, rose (pink), brown or blue. When you see most commercial hatcheries list Ameraucana or Araucana birds, more often than not, they're Easter Eggers. (Note that whatever color egg the chicken lays, it will always be the same color. A green laying Easter Egger will not lay a blue egg.)

Ameraucana - The Ameraucana was developed either from the Araucana or from South American breeds. They lay blue or blue-green eggs.

Araucana - The Araucana is a rare breed in the United States, distinguished from the Easter Eggers and Ameraucana by the lack of tail feathers. They lay blue or blue-green eggs.

Marans - The Marans aren't a recognized breed, but there are plenty of breeders who are working towards a standard. Marans come in a variety of colors such as Cuckoo, Black, Copper and others. They lay chocolate brown eggs.

Barnevelders - The Barnevelder is a rare breed that comes from Holland and lays medium brown to chocolate eggs.

Welsummers - The Welsummer is another Dutch breed that lays chocolate brown eggs. You may recognize the bird from the Kellogg's label, which uses the Welsummer as their logo.

All these birds are medium producers, meaning that you won't get rich selling eggs from them, however, you can enjoy these birds and their unusual eggs year round.

References

Raising Chickens for Dummies, Kimberly Willis and Rob Ludlow, 2009.

The Feather Site: Barnevelders

BackYardChickens: Main Chicken Breeds Chart