Green egg and ham

Yesterday, Mark found 

our first chicken egg!

Yep, it's green.

Green egg and ham- Anjali's idea.

Egg shell color comes from a combo of two things- 

the color of the shell and the color of the coating called bloom.

internet photo

Shells come in main two colors- white and blue.

Crack an egg and hold the shell up the the light and 

look at the color inside the shell.

It will be white or blue.

 

Auracana chickens from South America lay blue-shelled eggs and blue shells are a dominant trait so all offspring 

will also lay blue eggs.

Bloom, a coating over the shell, 

comes in white and various shades of brown.

If you look carefully at the eggs above you will see irregularity in the shell color aka bloom. 

Bloom adds color and creates a breathable barrier which allows oxygen in to the chick while keeping germs out.

The bloom of various chickens differ in color and 

I imagine in chemical composition.

internet photo

Therefore, by combining different shell colors with different shades of bloom, a rainbow of egg colors can be achieved.

 

internet photo

These hybrid chickens are called Easter Eggers.

 

internet photo of my dreams

Andrea, the lady who sells us eggs, has many chickens which lay brown eggs- white shell covered in brown bloom.

And she has two who lay green eggs- blue eggs covered in bloom.

our refrigerator

I look forward to that green egg in every carton.

It is my delight.

So when I bought chickens, I selected for good foraging skills, ease, broodiness and ability to raise their young, gentle personality, and colored eggs.

While egg color has nothing to so with 

the nutritional quality of the egg-

the chickens' diet and lifestyle do, just like people-

variety makes me happy.

So I went for it.

I have a few brown eggers (Swedish Flower Hens), 

a couple of blue eggers (Americaunas- hybrids of Auracana), 

 and many hatched from pink eggs 

with the hopes that our eggs will come in many hues.

 Each chicken lays a single color egg for life and in home flocks each chicken's eggs may be distinct enough to be identified.

A green egg is an auspicious start.