Why are some chicken eggs white and some eggs ‘brown’ or ‘speckled’? Is it related to why supermarkets sell mainly packages of eggs of the same shape and colour per package and why those packages are all differently priced?

Question

When I say differently priced I mean by egg ‘quality’ (like free range vs caged, although I’m not sure the exact mechanics of how that correlates to egg quality; I can imagine it impacting flavour though – happy chicken, yummy eggs?) not by the number of eggs sold per package, although that may have something to do with pricing, who knows?

In: Biology

Answer 1

For whatever reason the hens laying white eggs have been selectively bred for higher production rates.

A white leghorn hen is likely to lay an egg every day thru the 6 month ‘best production’ cycle of life.

Hens laying the colored eggs have not been bred up to the same extent, a hen may lay 5 or 6 eggs a week during peak production. In a factory setting it’s more profitable to keep the white egg layer as both birds occupy equal space and eat equal feed over the same time period.

RE free-range, cage free designation – Factory hens are kept in tiny cages and fed 100% artificial food. The feed needs to be as economical as possible and still produce results.

Chickens ranging outdoors find a variety of nutritious foods that chickens are **designed** by evolution to eat. eating a variety of natural foods along with fresh air and exercise produce more nutritious, tastier, and harder shelled eggs but require a more intensive management (hands on) by the farmer and the equipment and space required are different from the factory setting.