You may have heard rumors that brown eggs are somehow better than white ones—it’s often said that brown eggs are fresher or a better source of nutrients (among other supposed benefits). However rumors about the superiority of brown eggs are just rumors. The truth is that aside from the color of the shell there is no functional difference between what you get in a white egg and a brown egg.
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What is the difference between brown and white eggs?
However the color does give some indication of which breed of chicken may have laid the eggs. According to the USDA white eggs come from breeds such as Leghorn Cornish or White Rock chickens while Rhode Island Red New Hampshire and Plymouth chickens lay eggs with brown shells. Interestingly there are also breeds of chickens that lay blue or blue-green eggs such as the Araucuna chicken from South America and Dongxiang chickens from China although the eggs still taste the same as the more common egg colors (with some variation depending on the chicken's diet and the freshness of the egg).
While a chicken’s breed (and genetics — the natural end of the spectrum) is the most important factor in determining the color of her eggs there are other smaller influences on egg color. For example hens that lay brown eggs will as they get older lay lighter colored eggs (although they will still be brown — just a lighter shade). This is because older hens lay larger eggs which means the pigment that colors the eggs is spread more thinly over a larger surface area.
Hens that lay brown eggs also start laying lighter colored eggs when they are stressed by things like loud noises or being cooped up with too many other hens (the parenting side of things). This is due to hormones that are released when hens feel nervous or scared. While some sources claim that egg color depends on a hen’s feathers with white eggs coming from white hens and brown eggs from brown ones this claim seems to be little more than barnyard talk.
