What Color Eggs Does Each Chicken Breed Lay?

Egg color is set by a hen's breed, so you can plan a colorful egg basket by choosing the right chicks. Most breeds lay brown or light brown eggs. A few lay white, blue, green, olive or deep chocolate brown eggs.

Egg colors by breed

Breed	Egg color	Eggs per year
Buff Orpington	Light brown	About 180–200
Lavender Orpington	Light brown	About 150–200
Barred Rock	Brown	About 200
Rhode Island Red	Brown	About 200–300
Australorp	Light brown to brown	About 240–250
Wyandotte	Brown to light brown	About 200–240
Brahma	Brown	About 150–200
Marans	Dark chocolate brown	About 150–200
Welsummer	Dark terracotta, often speckled	About 160
Barnevelder	Dark brown	About 175–200
Speckled Sussex	Light brown to cream	About 200–250
White Leghorn	White	About 280–300
Ameraucana	Blue	About 150–200
Cream Legbar	Blue	About 180–200
Easter Egger	Blue, green or pinkish, varies by hen	About 200
Olive Egger	Olive green, shade varies	About 200

Laying rates are typical ranges for healthy backyard hens in their first two years. Individual hens vary.

Why eggs come in different colors

Every eggshell starts out white. Blue-egg breeds such as Ameraucanas add a blue pigment called biliverdin as the shell forms, so the color goes all the way through. Brown-egg breeds add a brown pigment, protoporphyrin, near the end, so it mostly sits on the outside. Olive eggs are a blue shell with a brown coating on top, which is why Olive Eggers come from crossing a blue-egg breed with a dark brown-egg breed. Our guide on Easter Eggers vs Olive Eggers explains the difference.

Does egg color change taste or nutrition?

No. A blue egg and a brown egg taste the same and have the same nutrition. Freshness, feed and how the hens live make the difference, not shell color.

Building a rainbow egg basket

For a mix of colors, pair a brown layer such as a Rhode Island Red or Australorp with a blue layer, an olive layer and a dark brown layer such as a Marans or Welsummer. Our Colorful Egg Basket bundle puts a mix together for you. You can also browse the chicken egg color chart.

Quick answers

Does earlobe color tell you egg color?

Often, but not always. White earlobes usually mean white eggs and red earlobes brown eggs, but Ameraucanas and Easter Eggers break the rule.

Why are my brown eggs getting lighter?

Brown shells naturally lighten as a hen lays through the season and as she gets older. Stress and heat can lighten them too.

Which breed lays the darkest eggs?

Marans lay the darkest chocolate brown eggs of the breeds we carry. Welsummers and Barnevelders are also dark.

Getting chicks from Chesapeake

All of our chick orders are pre-orders by hatch date. Shipped chicks travel by USPS Priority Mail to your local post office, and the post office calls you when they arrive. Free local pickup is available on many of our own breeds at 21084 Dover Bridge Rd, Preston, MD 21655. See chick shipping rates and times, read when to order baby chicks, or compare all of our chicken breeds.