Why are there white eggs and brown eggs, what causes this difference?

Answer 1

They can either be different breeds of chickens (you can also get blue and green eggs) or a nutritional difference. If you take a brown egged chicken and put it into a chicken factory, where grocery store eggs come from, they will turn whitish. The lighter the color, the less calcium was laid down on the egg (and the weaker the shell).
Another gross thing- grocery store eggs are basically bleached- they did not come out of the chicken that white, and people want to have uniform white eggs....so they dye them.

Answer 2

Different breeds of chicken lay different coloured eggs. Brown eggs are most popular with consumers so most eggs in supermarkets will be brown. As well as the full spectrum from white to deep brown, some breeds will lay blue and green eggs. A friend of mine has crossbred various hens and gets a lovely range of green shells from a very pale green to a deep olive green.

The colour of the hen is not a good indicator of the colour of the egg. There are many brown hens that will lay white eggs although I can't think of a white breed that lays brown eggs.

Answer 3

The color of egg shells comes from the breed of chickens. Rhode Island Reds lay brown eggs. White leghorns lay white eggs. The inside makes no difference. Brown chickens are larger,and checkens eat 1/2 their weight in grain a day. So it is more economical to raise white chickens. The feed the chickens receive effects the taste and color of yolk.
Older hens lay larger eggs.

Answer 4

The breed, white chickens , white eggs , brown chickens brown eggs, black chickens white eggs

Answer 5

The only real difference between white eggs and brown eggs are the size.

Brown eggs are larger than normal white eggs, and that is the only different. This is due to the chicken it came from, not all chickens are the same species, or even fed the same(Some are freerange while others are specility fed.)

Answer 6

I imagine it's a genetic difference, because some breeds of chickens lay white and some lay brown eggs. It's probably influenced by genes similar to the ones that influence humans' hair color or eye color.

Answer 7

I watch the Food Network every day and what they said was that white eggs come from white chickens and the brown ones come fron the chickens that are a brownish copper red color. Makes sense to me.

Answer 8

There are ALL colors. Depends on the kind of chicken laying them.

Answer 9

healthy diet/lifestyle makes them brown

oops, looks like i've been misled for years... it's the breed.. wow