Ever stared at a carton of eggs and wondered,
“Why are these eggs brown? Why are some eggs white? Are brown eggs healthier than white eggs? Are brown eggs more natural?”
Let's crack the brown eggs vs white eggs mystery. 🥚😉
Here’s the scoop:
All eggs start out white.
Yup, every egg begins as plain calcium carbonate inside the hen.
The color?
It’s painted on at the very end (in the shell gland, the last part of the hen’s oviduct, which is the tube where the egg is formed and assemble before it is laid).
Brown eggs get their hue from a pigment called protoporphyrin. The amount and pattern of protoporphyrin determines how dark or light the brown eggshell is, and sometimes it creates speckles or spots.
Blue or green eggs get their color from a pigment called oocyanin.
And white eggs?
Nada. No pigment.
Hens like White Leghorns just don’t have the genes to add color, and that’s totally fine!
There's a common misconception (thanks to decades of false marketing) that brown eggs are healthier than white eggs. But this is not true. Brown vs white eggs taste the same, and the color of an eggshell is simply determined by the breed of the hen.
A brown vs. white egg shell color does not affect the nutrients, flavor, or quality of the egg itself!
And here’s a fun fact: the color of a hen’s earlobe can (not always) give you a hint about the color of the eggs she’ll lay.
Red or pink earlobes (like Rhode Island Reds and Orpingtons chicken breeds) → usually brown eggs.
White earlobes (White Leg Horn chicken breed) → usually white eggs.
Blue or turquoise earlobes (Ameraucanas and Araucana chicken breeds, not as common) → usually blue eggs.
Brown eggs vs white eggs nutrition is really a non-issue since the shell color doesn't affect the nutritional content, flavor, or quality of the egg: it's purely cosmetic!
And when chickens are pasture-raised, hens of the same breed won’t lay eggs in exactly the same shade.
Think of it like freckles: some hens just make more pigment than others.
Add pasture sunshine, fresh forage, and a happy, free-range life, and you get a beautiful rainbow of natural, unique eggs. You can learn more about what pasture-raised eggs really means and why it matters.
That's why you'll often notice a beautiful color variation in our truly pasture-raised eggs.
In contrast, uniform-color eggs in the store usually come from highly controlled industrial factory conditions.
We don't cram our hens into double- or triple-decker confinement barns. Instead, our eggs come from a partnership of small regenerative farmers in our Co-Op, raising slightly different breeds, each living naturally on pasture.
And because what a hen eats matters just as much as how she's raised, all our eggs are corn and soy free. You can read more about why we say no to soy and what it means for your food.
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Note: I do not intend for you to walk away from this blog post thinking that conventional white eggs from the grocery store are “good” options.
But chances are, the brown eggs right next to them were raised in the same style of confinement barns and fed similar feed.
Main point: brown doesn't automatically mean better, and that's the real answer to why brown eggs are more expensive. It's marketing, not nutrition.
The eggshell color is simply determined by the hen's breed.
What really matters for the health and quality of the egg is how the chicken was raised and what it ate: pasture access, fresh forage, and a natural diet make all the difference, not the shell color. Curious about what pasture-raised really means? We break it all down in a separate blog post.
So, next time you crack open one of our farm-fresh eggs, take a moment to appreciate its story: the breed, the hen, and her best life out on pasture eating a clean, corn- and soy-free feed. 🐔🌿
Looking for egg recipe inspiration? Try a classic French omelet or a simple Egg Custard Dessert.
