Why are some eggs brown
Anyone who has been to the grocery store to buy some eggs has definitely seen that there are usually two types of eggs available there, brown eggs and white eggs. The cost of the brown eggs are of course more than what the white eggs are sold at, but be aware that the difference in price is not because the brown eggs have more nutritional value. In fact, both the white egg and the brown egg are equal in every aspect, except the color of the egg shell. The price difference exists because hens that give brown eggs eat more than hens that give white eggs, thus the production cost is more.
The color of the egg however depends on the hen that gives the egg. It is found that mostly, white eggs are laid by hens that have white feathers while the brown eggs are laid by hens with dark colored feathers. It can be compared with a human baby in this aspect because in humans also, the parent’s skin color more often than not, determines the skin tone of the new born.
There is another way to guess or predict the color of the eggs that a hen will lay, but it is not a sure shot way for all breeds of chicken. This involves noting the tone of the hen’s earlobe. You will notice that the shade of the hen’s earlobe is identical to the color of the eggs that it is laying.
You can also up to a certain extent, tell the breed of chicken that has given the egg with a little observation, for example, a white Leghorn chicken will always give white eggs while Rhode Island Red chickens will lay reddish brown eggs.
It can therefore be safely concluded that the color of the egg’s shell is not related to what the mother hen eats and is directly related to the genetics of the chicken itself. It would also be safe to assume that whatever some companies may propagate, actually brown eggs and white eggs are same in food value as well as taste.