What’s the obsession over egg shell color?

[21hens-incharge]

I can imagine your pain. In my case it was allergy to duck protein. A friend gave me a dozen duck eggs. The first two were delicious but caused digestive pain like you described. The irony is I adopted some homeless ducks and now raise and sell Muscovy because other people need them.

I have heard that some people have trouble with duck eggs. I feel less like a freak now.
I have a neighbor that had never tried duck eggs before. Now he requests them. Those and my pretty green chicken eggs.
This years fall chicks should all lay brown and white eggs.

 

[TooCheep]

As a culture in America at least, we've been brought up for decades now with almost exclusively white eggs from stores. Factory farming was introduced in world war 2. Any brown eggs became associated with local farmers, so brown were more "exotic" or "different". The mass produced eggs were indeed inferior to the brown eggs and those few who ate farm-fresh eggs could see the difference. Possibly they associated the difference with being brown or possibly just that they were "farm fresh".

I did enough reading before purchasing my first hens that I knew there was no inherent nutritional differences and it was more their diet/health that determined the quality of eggs produced. However, I went with brown just because I had eaten white my entire life and I figured any excess might sell a little easier as "farm fresh". Note that neither the stores, nor most home flock raisers explicitly say that brown eggs taste different or are healthier, but they don't generally dissuade that belief in their customers.

A friend that used to cut my hair had a roommate who said she was allergic to brown eggs. I would take my friend some of my brown and white eggs but her roommate wouldn't touch them. She would only buy Eggland's Best eggs from the store. Go figure...

Makes perfect sense. If you had a legitimate bad experience with brown eggs (possibly something in their diet triggered a reaction), and other options are easily available, why take a risk and go back, particularly with the fact that many believe there are real differences between the two?

So yes or no? Are your color-egg layers good producers?

As I understand it, the world-record egg layer (364 in one year) was an Australorp (brown eggs). I've had Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Australorp and Buff Orpington and all have been good high-quantity brown egg layers. Obviously there are a number of white egg layers that can do as well.

 

[JadeFarms]

Here’s what non chicken owners think:
Brown eggs = taste better/fresh
White eggs = nasty tasting/treated bad

The brown eggs are usually from red sex links which are usually the “free range” or “organic” eggs. The white ones are from white leghorns which are usually caged and badly fed and badly treated so their eggs taste worse.

It’s not the egg color, it’s the way the breeds are cared for. Keeping your own chickens is better cause it’s fun to see the different colors and fresh eggs taste much better.

 

[bhawk-23]

We are only on this chicken adventure for fun! We wanted a few breeds that were hardy, friendly, and layed different colored eggs. We have even put the names of the hens whose eggs were in the gifted carton because our friends/family got a kick out of it! Our hens are pets first, the beautiful colored and odd eggs are a fun bonus!

I love my calico princess. However, I have to remember she may not last too long (not a year yet and every egg has giant meat spots). But I'm getting more next spring. She's big, super friendly and and calm. I can come in and just scoop her up when I want to

Why do you say that her health is related to the meat spots? Our ISA browns also lay eggs with meat spots (not giant). Research says it's safe to eat and all of our hens seem healthy and very happy so we didn't give it much thought.

Edit: one of the ISA had a small issue that resolved but I took her to the university just to be sure she was healthy and the vet gave a clean bill of health.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We are only on this chicken adventure for fun! We wanted a few breeds that were hardy, friendly, and layed different colored eggs. We have even put the names of the hens whose eggs were in the gifted carton because our friends/family got a kick out of it! Our hens are pets first, the beautiful colored and odd eggs are a fun bonus!


Why do you say that her health is related to the meat spots? Our ISA browns also lay eggs with meat spots (not giant). Research says it's safe to eat and all of our hens seem healthy and very happy so we didn't give it much thought.

If I remember a bit, i heard that it's bits of the tract and that hens with problems will lay more than hens without. She lays nearly every day and has since August and every egg has one the size of the blatodisc or bigger

 

[bhawk-23]

If I remember a bit, i heard that it's bits of the tract and that hens with problems will lay more than hens without. She lays nearly every day and has since August and every egg has one the size of the blatodisc or bigger

Hmmmm.... Lizzy has also layed everyday since August. I will most definitely keep a closer watch on these meat spots! Thanks!

 

[ShannonsChimkens]

So yes or no? Are your color-egg layers good producers?

Here’s a photo of 3 to 4 days worth of eggs. The customers really like the variety of colors. They open the carton and go “Ooooo look at the colors!” Every time.

The marans lay almost daily and much bigger eggs. The green/blue layers lay daily (Isbars & CCLs). The light brown eggs are mostly Wyandotte and they lay daily. Spitzhaubens, as you know, are pretty consistent as well.

I would say yes, some of the colored egg layers are great producers. Especially Isbars. The Cemani eggs are scarce for 3 hens, as well as Pavlovskaya. Both cream layers.

 

[JCaseyHammond]

I have heard that some people have trouble with duck eggs. I feel less like a freak now.
I have a neighbor that had never tried duck eggs before. Now he requests them. Those and my pretty green chicken eggs.
This years fall chicks should all lay brown and white eggs.

Oh you’re completely normal I’m sure. Each person has individual chemistry and not everyone can be expected to eat everything safely. Excellent to hear your neighbor is on board with consuming backyard poultry products. FWIW to keep the blue egg gene in my flock, I just make sure I have a hen and cockerel breeding pair with at least one copy each of the blue egg gene which is dominant. That way I don’t run out of blue or green egg layers to fill the cartons

 

[21hens-incharge]

Oh you’re completely normal I’m sure. Each person has individual chemistry and not everyone can be expected to eat everything safely. Excellent to hear your neighbor is on board with consuming backyard poultry products. FWIW to keep the blue egg gene in my flock, I just make sure I have a hen and cockerel breeding pair with at least one copy each of the blue egg gene which is dominant. That way I don’t run out of blue or green egg layers to fill the cartons

I am in the middle of town so no roosters allowed.

I do have a drake to help make baby duckies though.

 

[JCaseyHammond]

So yes or no? Are your color-egg layers good producers?

Yes! If they had an Australorp parent. I started with pinkish-brown egg laying Australorps from Dare-To-Dream Farms in SoCal in 2015. I added the blue egg gene into the flock with an EE cockerel and EE hens.

*The daughters that produced the most biggest green eggs had an Australorp parent and an EE parent.*

My understanding of the genetics:

Blue eggs=blue layer + blue layer.
Green eggs=blue layer+brown layer.
Maybe someone can post a chart if you want.
Hope that helps