Where green eggs come from

There is no green pigment in a chicken egg. A green egg is a blue egg with a light brown coating on top. The blue goes all the way through the shell, and the brown sits on the outside. Mix the two and your eye sees green. A pale coating gives a minty or sage shell. A heavier coating pushes it toward olive.

Test it yourself

Crack a green egg and look at the inside of the shell. It will usually be blue. That tells you the hen has the blue egg gene and also some brown egg genetics. If you gently scrub the outside of some green eggs, a bit of the brown can even rub away, leaving a bluer patch.

Breeds that lay green eggs

Green layers are usually crosses rather than standard breeds. The most common is the Easter Egger, a mixed bird that carries the blue egg gene. Some lay blue, but many lay green in shades that range from pale mint to sea green. The Olive Egger is bred by crossing a blue layer with a dark brown layer, and lighter-coated hens from those crosses lay green. The Isbar is a Swedish breed known for green to mossy eggs.

Why you cannot predict the exact shade

Because green comes from two separate traits, the shade depends on how much blue and how much brown each hen inherited. Two sisters from the same hatch can lay very different greens. If you buy chicks sold as green layers, expect a range, and maybe the odd blue or tinted egg.

How green eggs change through the year

The blue part stays fairly steady. The brown coating is the part that shifts. Like brown eggs, the brown layer often fades over a long laying season or with age. So a hen that lays olive-green in spring might lay a lighter, bluer green by late summer. After a molt, the color often deepens again.

Green egg myths

• Green eggs are spoiled or unsafe. No. Green shells are normal. A green ring around a cooked yolk is a different thing, caused by overcooking.
• Green egg hens are a pure breed. Most are crosses, so looks and egg shade vary.
• Green eggs taste different. The inside is the same as any other egg.

Common questions about green eggs

What chicken lays the greenest eggs?

There is no single answer, because shade varies hen to hen. Easter Eggers and Olive Eggers are the most common choices.

Do green eggs hatch green egg layers?

Some chicks will lay green and some will not, depending on what genes they get from each parent.

When do Easter Eggers start laying?

Many start somewhere around five to seven months old, depending on season and line.