08/14/2026
🎨 HOW DOES A CHICKEN MAKE AN OLIVE, PINK, SPECKLED OR EVEN “PURPLE” EGG?! 🎨🥚
One of my FAVORITE things about chickens is opening a nest box and seeing a whole rainbow staring back at me. 😍
But here's the cool part…
Those colors aren't created the same way!
An eggshell has a BASE COLOR, and then pigments and bloom can change what our eyes ultimately see.
Think of it like painting. 🎨
Let's break it down WITHOUT needing a degree in chicken genetics. 😂👇
🤍 WHITE EGGS: THE BLANK CANVAS
A white egg is essentially our starting point.
There's no blue shell pigment throughout the shell and little to no brown pigment deposited over the outside.
Crack open a white egg and look at the inside of the shell…
🤍 WHITE.
Pretty straightforward!
💙 BLUE EGGS: THE COLOR GOES THROUGH THE SHELL
This is where things get REALLY cool.
Blue egg layers deposit a pigment called biliverdin into the shell as it's being formed.
Unlike brown pigment that's primarily deposited on the shell's exterior, blue coloration is incorporated through the shell.
Crack open a true blue egg and look inside:
💙 It's blue on the inside too!
That's an easy way to understand the difference between blue and brown egg coloration.
🤎 BROWN EGGS: THINK PAINT ON TOP
Brown eggs begin with a shell that isn't inherently brown all the way through.
As the egg travels through the hen's reproductive tract, brown pigment—primarily protoporphyrin IX—is deposited onto the shell.
That's why the inside of a brown eggshell is generally much lighter than the outside.
And different hens deposit different amounts of pigment.
Light brown ➡️ tan
More pigment ➡️ rich brown
LOTS of pigment ➡️ those gorgeous DARK chocolate eggs. 🤎😍
🫒 SO HOW DO WE GET AN OLIVE EGG?
Here's where chicken genetics gets FUN.
Take a chicken genetically capable of producing a:
💙 BLUE shell
and add:
🤎 BROWN pigment over it.
What happens when you put brown over blue?
🫒 OLIVE!
That's the basic concept behind an Olive Egger.
The shade can vary enormously depending on how much brown pigment the hen deposits.
💙 Blue shell + light brown = green
💙 Blue shell + heavier brown = olive
💙 Blue shell + VERY heavy brown = deep mossy/dark olive
This is why using dark-egg genetics in an Olive Egger breeding program can be so valuable.
🌸 OKAY… THEN WHERE DO PINK EGGS COME FROM?!
Here's the surprise:
Most chickens we call “pink egg layers” aren't producing a truly pink shell pigment.
Instead, we're usually seeing a combination of:
🤎 A lighter brown/tinted shell
+
✨ A heavy or particular BLOOM
=
🌸 A shell that appears PINK!
Bloom is the protective outer coating applied to the egg shortly before it's laid.
Depending on the underlying shell color and the characteristics of that bloom, an egg can appear:
🌸 Blush pink
🌷 Rosy
🤍 Chalky
🍑 Peach
And here's a neat trick:
💧 Wet the egg.
Sometimes that beautiful pink appearance temporarily changes or disappears when the bloom gets wet, allowing you to see more of the underlying shell color.
Once it dries, the appearance may return.
💜 WHAT ABOUT “PURPLE” EGGS?!
Sorry, purple-egg lovers…
Your chicken doesn't have a little purple paint cartridge hiding inside her. 😂💜
What we call purple, plum or mauve eggs are generally the result of a brown egg combined with a heavy bloom that alters how we perceive the shell color.
A dark brown egg + the right bloom can create a gorgeous:
💜 Plum
🪻 Mauve
🌫️ Smoky purple
🩶 Grayish-lavender appearance
And THAT is why some eggs look dramatically different when they're wet.
✨ BLOOM CAN COMPLETELY CHANGE THE LOOK OF AN EGG.
🐆 AND THEN WE HAVE SPECKLES!
Speckles happen when brown pigment isn't deposited evenly over the shell.
Instead, concentrated pigment creates:
🤎 Dots
🤎 Freckles
🤎 Blotches
🤎 Larger patches
Sometimes pigment distribution toward the end of shell formation produces those gorgeous heavily speckled eggs everyone goes crazy for. 😍
And here's something important for breeders:
🥚 ONE HEN CAN PRODUCE DIFFERENT-LOOKING EGGS THROUGHOUT HER LAYING CYCLE.
The exact shade and amount of surface pigment can vary.
A hen's eggs may become lighter as she progresses through a laying cycle, and bloom or speckling can vary from egg to egg.
So don't judge your entire breeding program from ONE egg!
🧬 NOW FOR THE BREEDING PART…
Egg color isn't simply:
“Mom lays this color, therefore her daughters will lay exactly the same color.”
I WISH. 😂
Multiple genes can influence shell color, brown pigment intensity and other characteristics.
The rooster matters too—even though he'll obviously never lay an egg!
His genetics can influence the egg color of his DAUGHTERS.
That's why serious egg-color breeding means:
🥚 Knowing which hen laid which egg
🏷️ Identifying your breeders
🐣 Tracking offspring
📝 Keeping records
🎨 Selecting generation after generation
If you want consistently beautiful eggs, you have to breed the GENETICS, not just the chicken that looks prettiest.
🌈 THE EASY WAY TO REMEMBER IT:
🤍 WHITE = little shell coloration
💙 BLUE = blue coloration through the shell
🤎 BROWN = brown pigment deposited primarily over the exterior
🫒 OLIVE/GREEN = blue shell + brown overlay
🌸 PINK/BLUSH = usually tinted/brown shell + bloom effect
💜 PURPLE/PLUM = usually brown shell + bloom creating the visual effect
🐆 SPECKLED = concentrated/uneven surface pigment deposits
And THIS is why I can stare at a basket of eggs for an embarrassing amount of time. 😂🥚😍
They're not just different colors…
They're little genetics experiments sitting in the nest box. 🧬🎨
👇 If you could breed ONE dream egg color, what would it be?
🌸 PINK
💜 PURPLE
🫒 DEEP OLIVE
🤎 DARK CHOCOLATE
🐆 HEAVY SPECKLES
💙 BRIGHT BLUE
— The Hatching Nurse 🐣💚
