Sunday, February 24, 2013

Weekend Wisdom: What Color Are Your Eggs?


Having chickens now, I've learned some very interesting facts about them and their eggs.  For example, did you know that there are only two colors of eggs?  Knowing that, what colors would you guess they are?



Most people say brown and white, but most people would be wrong.  When a chicken  makes eggs, they come in white or blue.  Those brown eggs are "painted" by the hen just before they're laid. Only the white eggs and the blue eggs are white or blue all the way through.

Don't believe me?  Look at the inside of that brown eggshell the next time you crack it open.

5 comments:

cityslipper said...

But Kylee! If you have a white wall in your living room and you paint it yellow, what color wall do you have? At the factory, after the production line covers a car's shiny metal with maroon paint, what color car have they manufactured? After a hit-and-run accident, the police don't look for a shiny metal car, they look for a maroon car with some surface damage. Eggs are white, blue, brown, or speckled - and in many, many shades thereof!

Kylee Baumle said...

Daniel ~ Yes, but the actual shell is either blue or white. The other colors are just superficial - kind of like my eye shadow and blush. ;-)

Cheryl said...

I was just "window shopping" online last night for chicks from a hatchery. Definitely wanted the ones that lay brown eggs. Now I am very curious what you mean by the chicken "paints" the egg brown just before she lays it. Because if it's something terribly gross, I may have to switch to white egg layers!

Lisa said...

As a painter and chicken keeper, I'm puzzling over what you mean by "painted."

Kylee Baumle said...

Cheryl & Lisa and Robb ~ The hen adds the color, which is specific to her breed, just before she lays the egg. If you get the egg immediately after she lays it, you might find that it's wet and you can rub the color off, but once it dries, you can't wash the color off. I have collected a freshly laid egg that was still wet and you CAN rub the color off. But like I said, once it dries, you can't, not even if you get it wet and scrub.

Here's a great blog post that explains this, as well as other interesting egg facts:

How a Hen Makes an Egg & Egg Oddities

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