[Chicken Pete]

Out of interest, could someone explain why we get  various colours of eggs from our chickens?  They are all the same breed and 2 years old.
They all eat the same food ,etc so interested to know what causes the difference.
Thanks

[Aidy]

According to some it can be down to several reasons, stress is one such cause, change of feed etc.
I have ex bats and Black Rocks that produce the standard brown egg, but when I changed the feed (different manufacturer) they went white for a spell then back to brown.

[cammi]

funny you should say about feed Aidy, i changed from a cheap unknown  feed to Garvo and my Bluebells egg colour changed.  They used to lightish with a tint, now they are quite 'normal' brown egg looking lol.  Strange;y my Copper Black's eggs that arent that dark haven't got any darker 

[hillfooter]

Well basically egg colour is down to genetics not feed.  For example I feed all my birds exactly the same yet the cream legbars lay blue eggs the Barnevelders lay brown eggs the Vorwerks lay cream egg and so on.  Marans from widely separate parts of the world will still produce dark brown eggs even if they aren't fed identically.  The darker brown egg colours are down to a coating which is applied to the egg and is only on the surface.  If you wash the egg and rub the surface the colour comes off.  If the hen turns the egg with it's claws while it is still wet you can see white scratch marks in the surface coating.  The underlying colour is white or cream usually.  If the hens metabolism is disturbed by stress or illness or a feed change it can effect the production of the chemicals which produce the colour but usually this is just a transient change and the colour will return when the disturbance goes.

If your birds all lay different coloured eggs they can't all have an identical genetic make up which probably means they aren't pure breeds.
HF

[wolverine]

Is there any truth in the ear lobe egg colour conection ?? I would love that to be true

[Casey76]

Yes, to an extent... white ear-lobed hens lay white eggs, for red ear lobes, it is down to breed and genetics!

[Chicken Pete]

Hillfooter, many thanks for your detailed answer to my question.  It goes some way for me to understand a little better, could the recent weather conditions ie cold/wet,etc play a part in determining the colour?  Our chickens come from the same supplier and are Leghorns are they a pure breed?
Thanks also to those who commented

[hillfooter]

Hillfooter, many thanks for your detailed answer to my question.  It goes some way for me to understand a little better, could the recent weather conditions ie cold/wet,etc play a part in determining the colour?  Our chickens come from the same supplier and are Leghorns are they a pure breed?
Thanks also to those who commented

Leghorns are an Italian chicken of slender build and are profuse layer of a pure white egg usually.  Though they can be slighty diferent off white tints.  I've never kept leghorns so I've no experience but I would have thought the egg colour should not vary a lot and if it does and remains consistently different I would suspect the presence of other breeds genes.

Leghorns are renowned for being slightly flighty.  It is not uncommon for breeders to try to improve various characteristics by introducing other genes particularly with a predominently layer breed like Leghorns.

HF

[hillfooter]

Just found this site which if you want more info on lwghornns is worth a read also you could email them with your egg colour question they sound very keen and experienced breeders.

http://www.leghorn.co.uk/

It's also interesting to read their comments about breeding which they are having to give up due to economics a sad reflection on our times.  It highlights the problems that quality breeders have competing with the "pile em high and sell them cheap" brigade.  Sadly quality breeding programmes can't compete in these days of high demand from undiscerning customers.  Pure breed characteristics suffer and egg laying utility drops with indiscriminate breeding.

Argyllie might be interested too they are near Oban.
HFl

[GrannieAnnie]

Are they pure breed leghorns or hybrid leghorns?  The white hybrid leghorns we are picking up on Monday will lay white eggs.

ear lobe colour sometimes works as in araucanas, but my 2 white silkies have blue ear lobes but lay pale flesh coloured eggs.

And our 21 Bovans Browns, all from the same hatch, lay eggs from almost white to a lovely medium brown, so if its in the genes, do you think it goes back to parents and grandparents Terry?  as I know the hybrids are not just a straight cross between 2 breeds.

[hillfooter]

Are they pure breed leghorns or hybrid leghorns?  The white hybrid leghorns we are picking up on Monday will lay white eggs.

ear lobe colour sometimes works as in araucanas, but my 2 white silkies have blue ear lobes but lay pale flesh coloured eggs.

And our 21 Bovans Browns, all from the same hatch, lay eggs from almost white to a lovely medium brown, so if its in the genes, do you think it goes back to parents and grandparents Terry?  as I know the hybrids are not just a straight cross between 2 breeds.

By definition hybrids aren't genetically consistent or otherwise they'd breed true to type. So egg colour may well be effected by genes inherited from grandparents.  Basically Pure breeds are inbred over generations for the specific characteristics which your are trying to standardise so their genetic make up is more contistent for these characteristics.  I'm not an expert by a long chalk on genetics so if you want a better explaination maybe someone who is can explain better.
HF

[Pertelotte]

Yes, to an extent... white ear-lobed hens lay white eggs, for red ear lobes, it is down to breed and genetics!

Can any of you good folk out there tell me where the speckledy egg bit comes from? I've got two Ambers; one has always laid uniform brown eggs and the othe lays speckled eggs, sometimes with swirls. 5 it's any use, she's the naughtiest of the two.

[Casey76]

After the shell has meen made around the egg by the shell gland, it contuinues to pass sown the egg duct.  During this time the colour will be laid onto the shell surface (all shells are white - except araucana (and derivative) eggs which are blue).  Even dark brown marans eggs start off white!

Obviously each egg duct is different, and it can happen that the pigment is laid down thicker in spots than others, which gives the speckles.

[Pertelotte]

Thank you.