Another fascinating fact to file away for your next dinner party: White-feathered chickens with white earlobes lay white eggs; red or brown ones with red earlobes lay brown eggs; and the Ameraucana breed, also known as the Eastern egg chicken, lays eggs with blue shells.
Tro V. Bui, a visiting fellow in animal science, shared this and other fun facts with the New York Times in response to a question about whether there is any nutritional difference between brown and white eggs.
Brown eggs in general may have more omega-3 fatty acids, but the difference is slight, Bui said, and there is no difference in yolk color or taste.
Other things we learned:
- Shell quality does not differ by breed, though younger chickens lay eggs with harder shells;
- Brown-egg chickens tend to be larger and cost more to feed and raise, so white eggs are more cost-efficient;
- The type of feed can affect the egg’s nutritional content as well as its yolk color;
- Pigment is usually added to the outer layer in the last few hours before the egg is laid.
