Alan and his eggs of many colours

[alan refail]

As spring approaches, the hens, both old and new are laying well. We have all the colours we were aiming for plus the bonus khaki-coloured ones on the right.

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[robo]

Nice mix of colours there Alan,what are your thoughts of the blue eggs my daughters say the whites are a bit thin and not as nice as normal eggs ,I only get three types ,blue ,white and brown obviously not on the same egg

[oldherbaceous]

Now if you were selling them in the London restaurants, Alan...do you sell boxes of mixed colours, or do people prefer set colours?

Lovely photos...

[alan refail]

Now if you were selling them in the London restaurants, Alan...do you sell boxes of mixed colours, or do people prefer set colours?

Lovely photos...

On the whole we let people pick/mix their own colours. There's usually a tray of 30 eggs in the porch to choose from. There are those who only take the brown ones - there's a choice of about half a dozen shades. Then there are the more adventurous who like the blue, olive and dark green ones.

[alan refail]

Nice mix of colours there Alan,what are your thoughts of the blue eggs my daughters say the whites are a bit thin and not as nice as normal eggs

I don't find any problem with the whites when the eggs are fresh. Personally I detect a little more flavour in the blue and green eggs. but that may just be my imagination.

[Monika]

I know nothing about poultry, hence this, maybe stupid, question: why do the hens lay eggs of different colours? Presumably they are all eating the same food? Are certain colours confined to certain breeds? Does the colouring vary according to the seasons?

[Elmigo]

I really start to wonder the same Monika... those eggs are beautiful with all those colors. I did not even know brownish greenish eggs existed untill now! What should I call this color? It looks like a smooth kiwi...

[Primrose]

I always thought brown eggs were produced because of a stronger colouring of the grain in their food or something similar.

As a child I. rarely remember seeing brown shelled eggs. They were something of a rare treat. Now many of the supermarkets seem to sell mostly brown eggs. I wonder if people perceive them as coming from more healthy "sun tanned" chickens.

That a lovely looking collection of eggs Alan. What a nice presented to be gifted a box of different coloured shells!

[alan refail]

I know nothing about poultry, hence this, maybe stupid, question: why do the hens lay eggs of different colours? Presumably they are all eating the same food? Are certain colours confined to certain breeds? Does the colouring vary according to the seasons?

Hi Monika. Your middle question is the right one - different breeds lay different coloured eggs.It's as simple as that.

[alan refail]

I always thought brown eggs were produced because of a stronger colouring of the grain in their food or something similar.

The feed makes no difference to shell colour, Primrose - see my answer to Monika. What the diet does influence, however, is the colour and taste of the yolk. Plenty of grass will lead to a deeper orange yolk, as will the feeding of sunflower seeds in mixed corn or the inclusion of pot marigold in layers pellets.

[Stephen]

Now if you were selling them in the London restaurants, Alan...do you sell boxes of mixed colours, or do people prefer set colours?

Lovely photos...

Quite right OH. I could see those on display in a posh restaurant (or at least a large picture on the wall).

[Primrose]

Alan, at least you will have plenty of eggs to live on if you have to self quarantine for a couple of weeks because of the Corona virus!
Just think how frustrating it would be if you still had lots of fresh winter veg growing on your allotment and you weren,t allowed to go out to pick it !

[Shallot Man]

EGGS.Seem to recall reading many moons ago, our American cousins only buy white shelled eggs.

[oldherbaceous]

Made me smile while listening to the farming progamme on the radio the other morning...we should all be buying white shelled eggs, as the hens don't need their beaks cutting, as they are less aggresive to each other....looks like Alan might have a job to keep up with production now.

[Stephen]

Right up Alan's street.