What Are the Differences Between White and Brown Eggs?

Some people buy brown eggs because they believe that they are healthier or more natural than white eggs. White and brown eggs have equal nutrition, but they are different colors because of the breed of chickens that lay them.

Some people buy brown eggs because they believe that they are healthier or more natural than white eggs. However, the color of the eggshell doesn't tell you anything about the nutrition inside the egg, the health of the hen that laid the egg, or the conditions on the farm where that hen lives. What is the difference between white and brown eggs?  Nothing except the type of chicken that laid the egg.

No, a darker colored shell does not mean that the egg is better for you. Nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and protein don't depend on shell color. If a farmer feeds two chickens of different breeds the same diet, there's no difference in nutrition between their eggs, regardless of color.

No, farmers do not need to bleach eggs because white eggs are naturally white. In fact, all eggs are white at the beginning of the egg formation process inside the hen. Chickens that lay colored eggs deposit pigment on the eggshell before laying their eggs.

The color of the egg depends on the breed of the hen that laid it. In some common breeds, the color of the egg matches the color of the chicken. Leghorn chickens, which are white, lay white eggs. Orpington chickens have brown feathers and lay brown eggs.

This doesn't always hold true. Ameraucana chickens can be white, brown, or black, but they lay blue eggs. A type of hen called an Olive Egger lays green eggs, but its feathers tend to be grey, black, or brown. A chicken's earlobes are a better way to see what color egg they will lay. A hen with white earlobes will most often lay white eggs. If the hen's earlobes are red, their eggs will probably be brown.

The brown color comes from a pigment (natural coloring) called protoporphyrin.  The hen's body adds this brown pigment to the outside of the egg toward the end of the egg-making process, during the last few hours before the hen lays the egg. The pigment doesn't get inside the egg or even all the way through the shell. If you crack a brown egg and look at the inside of the shell, it will usually be white.

Chickens that lay blue eggs, such as Araucana hens, start depositing the pigment oocyanin on the egg earlier in the egg formation process. The blue pigment has time to spread throughout the eggshell, so both the inside and outside of the shell end up blue. To get green eggs, farmers crossbreed chickens that lay blue eggs with chickens that lay brown eggs. The result is a blue eggshell covered with brown pigment just before it's laid. The mix of colors results in a shade of green — pale green from chickens called Easter Eggers and dark green from Olive Eggers.

No, brown eggs and white eggs have the same flavor.

No, eggs whip and cook up the same way in the same amount of time, no matter what color their shells are.

No, the shelf-life of a brown egg is the same as that of a white egg. Eggs stay safe to eat for weeks if kept refrigerated, but they can lose flavor slowly over time. Shell color doesn't make a difference in how long the egg stays fresh and flavorful. 

No, the color of the yolk depends on what the hen ate. Chickens that live only indoors and mostly eat grain tend to produce eggs with a pale yellow yolk. Chickens that have access to the outdoors may eat bugs and plants that give the yolks of her eggs a darker yellow or even orange color. It's also possible to add things like marigold petals to the hen's food to make the yolk darker. The color of the yolk doesn't make a difference in the amount of protein or fat in the egg, but chickens that are truly pasture-raised lay eggs with more vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.

In the past, brown eggs cost more at the store because it cost the farmer more to produce them. The breed of chicken they were using for brown eggs at the time ate more than the breed farmers were using to produce white eggs. There are now new breeds that lay brown eggs and aren't much more expensive to keep than chickens that lay white eggs. However, shoppers tend to think that brown eggs are healthier and will pay more for them, so grocery stores continue to charge more for brown eggs than for white eggs.