Modern Homesteader

My four ducks started to lay eggs just recently, and if you haven’t seen a duck egg, their size is double that of a chicken egg. Duck eggs also contain a higher fat content than chicken eggs, making them ideal for baking. While my excitement upon seeing that first duck in a little homemade nest, compared to the excitement of a child on Christmas day; what I’ve really been “cooing” over are the two Ameraucanas we added to the flock this year.

One of them lays the most beautifully colored olive-green egg that I have ever seen. They are almost too pretty to eat. Almost. When researching the different types of breeds, I always found myself considering egg color when determining what type of chickens I wanted to bring home and add to the family. The color of an egg is determined by the genetics of the hen. Each breed of hen will lay a specific color of egg. Whether that is a white egg, different shades of brown, or blue and green eggs that come from Ameraucanas.

I’ve come to believe that one of my Ameraucanas is an Olive Egger, which can be a rare breed to find, because there are no distinct physical characteristics that differentiate them from a good old fashioned Ameraucana. I think we just got lucky with her. The olive-green eggs are the product from a hen that hatched from a rooster that originally came from a brown egg, and a hen that lays blue eggs.

As we mostly see white and brown eggs in the market, I found it interesting that all eggs start out as white in color. Any eggs that have varying shades on them once laid, have pigments deposited on them as the egg passes through the hen’s oviduct. That process through the oviduct can take between 24-26 hours to complete. The formation of the shell can take up to 20 hours to complete for each egg.

When you crack open a brown egg, you may notice the inside of the shell is still white. A hen that lays a brown egg produces a pigment called protoporphyrin, that is deposited on the eggs in the process of forming the shell. This particular pigment does not permeate the entire shell, as one would see with a blue egg. Ameraucanas produce a different pigment called oocyanin, this pigment results in the entire egg being colored the same blue tint on the interior and exterior. In the case of my suspected Olive Egger hen, a blue egg is produced and a brown pigment overlays on top, resulting in a green egg. The darker the brown pigment is, the more olive color will be given as a result.

Regardless of the color of an egg, you will find no difference in the taste. Just good, rich tasting eggs all around. Especially if the ladies are as spoiled as mine.