Eggs have been part of the quintessential breakfast routine for decades but for the most part they are overlooked as something unique and become part of our everyday lives.
Picture: These eggs were gathered from different heritage breeds of chickens. These are the natural colors of the shells: The eggs are not dyed, and no color enhancements have been made to this photo. Photo by Hudson Bedell
Only Easter eggs are dyed different colors and decorated with lace and glitter to fit into our ornate and hectic lives. Yet, eggs are extremely unique just by themselves and many aspects are overlooked. For instance, do you know how the color of an egg is determined? The answer may surprise you…. you can tell the color of the egg before it is hatched by the color of the chicken’s earlobe. Seriously though! A hen with a white earlobe will always lay white eggs, whereas hens with red earlobes can lay brown, blue or green eggs. Different breeds lay various colored eggs. Eggs come in many unusual colors – light brown, deep chocolate brown, white, off-white, pinkish and even green and blue! An individual bird’s eggs will remain essentially the same color all the time. There can be variation in the hade of egg colors amongst individuals within a breed, but not the base color (brown, white, blue etc.) Araucana and Ameraucana breeds, also known as the “Easter Egg Chickens,” famously lay varying shades of green and blue eggs.
Some Chickens also lay speckled eggs. These are my personal favorite because they look like someone lightly sprinkled paint on them so they each could have their own over-the-top fabricated pattern. Many experts believed that the markings are camouflage, useful in concealing eggs from predators. Interestingly enough, the cause of the speckles is unknown and has been a heated debate topic between scientists and birders for hundreds of years. I am really hoping there are unidentified chickens somewhere on a tropical island waiting to be discovered. Every chicken laying different colored eggs like hot pink, turquoise, coral, magenta, and sunshine yellow….making my breakfast, and toddlers everywhere, extremely memorable. However, if worse comes to worse I am sure we could always settle for a chicken that lays golden eggs. Right? Until the next post, I’ll be searching for chickens with golden earlobes….
For more information click here or here .
