Farm & Flock Pick a Color
Farm & Flock— presented by Chicken Whisperer Magazine ®
Colorful Egg Layers
Chickens That Bring Variety to the Basket
By Samantha Johnson
Looking for a bit of variety in your egg basket? White eggs are wonderful, of course— after all, supermarket shelves contain carton upon carton of beautifully uniform white eggs, and countless backyard chicken keepers collect white eggs from their hens every day. But if you ' re craving more of a kaleidoscopic effect in your egg basket, look no further than this assortment of chicken breeds that lay colorful( think: blue, brown, green and even pink!) eggs. Here ' s what you need to know.
The Breeds You Need
Let ' s start with the basics. If you want colorful eggs, you ' ll need chickens with the genetic capability to produce colorful eggs. Don ' t worry— this doesn ' t mean that you need a deep understanding of genetics and biology. To start, you just need a basic understanding of which breeds produce eggs of which color. Here ' s a quick overview to get you started:
Blue:
• Araucana- This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Araucana ' s recognition by the American Poultry Association. Araucanas are widely known for their beautiful blue eggs.
• Ameraucana- Developed in the U. S. from the Araucana, the aptly named Ameraucana also produces blue eggs and is known for its good disposition.
• Cream Legbar- A blue-egg-producing descendant of the Araucana.
• Easter Egger- You never know what you ' ll get when you get Easter Eggers. Some hens may produce blue, some may produce green, some may produce pink … but they ' ll all be beautiful!
Green:
• Easter Egger- See above.
• Olive Egger- These birds produce simply gorgeous, colorful green eggs.
Tinted( Cream to Pink):
• Easter Egger- See above.
• Dorking( occasionally)- A beautiful heritage breed originally from England, Dorkings are known for their gentle dispositions.
• Delaware( occasionally)- As you might surmise from its name, the Delaware breed originated in America, and it ' s a delightful dual-purpose heritage bird that produces light brown( and occasionally pink) eggs.
• Faverolles- Named for the Faverolles village of France, this heritage breed arrived in the U. S. at the beginning of the 20th century. It produces tinted and sometimes pink eggs.
• Silkie- Egg color ranges widely in Silkies and cream and pink eggs are often possible.
• Plymouth Rock- Before the egg industry moved almost exclusively to the Leghorn, the Plymouth Rock was a popular choice for commercial operations because of its abundant( brown) egg production.
14 AcreageLife September 2026 AcreageLife. com