What chickens lay eggs with blue shells?
The Araucana, a chicken breed from Chile, and Dongxiang and Lushi chickens in China lay blue eggs. Blue eggshell color is controlled by an autosomal dominant gene: eggs produced by homozygote chickens are darker blue than those from heterozygotes.
Are eggs with blue shells safe to eat?
Specifically, it changes the chemistry of the eggshell so that it can take in biliverdin, a bile pigment, from the chicken’s uterus. And not necessarily harmful; blue eggs are widely eaten and the Araucana, in particular, is a very popular exotic chicken breed.
What kind of bird lays a blue egg?
Indian mynas
Indian mynas lay two to five blue/turquoise eggs. They can breed twice a year and will build and defend several nests at a time (although only one will hold eggs). The egg colour is distinctive as no native ‘hollow-nesting’ birds lay blue/ turquoise eggs.
What are blue eggs called?
Easter Eggers sometimes lay blue eggs, but not all do (therefore the moniker “Easter Egger”). The blue color is created by a different pigment than the type that makes brown eggs. The blue pigment is called “oocyanin”.
Why do some eggs have blue shells?
The blue color is created by oocyanin, which is applied early in the laying process. The blue pigment goes right through the shell, unlike the brown pigment. So blue eggs are blue inside and out.
Can a chicken lay blue eggs?
There are several breeds of chicken that lay blue eggs. The best-known of these breeds are the Cream Legbars, Ameraucanas, and the Araucanas. Mixed-breeds descended from any of these can also lay blue eggs.
What animal makes blue eggs?
Songbirds. Blue birds, robins, blackbirds, starlings, blue jays, thrushes, catbirds and dunnocks are some of the species of songbirds that lay solid blue eggs or blue eggs with brown speckles.
Are blue eggs good?
No, there is no difference in terms of edibility, health, or nutrition in different-colored egg shells. That said, the colorful eggs from your backyard hens WILL have much more nutrition, because eggs produced by hens raised on pasture are much healthier, indeed (and they taste much better, too).
What’s the difference between blue eggs and normal eggs?
Can you eat ameraucana eggs?
Stressed hens might just stop laying. Their eggs aren’t only coveted for their unique and gorgeous blue color. Ameraucana chicken eggs are one of the healthiest, with low cholesterol and rich flavors.
What kind of chicken lays a pale blue egg?
Wikimedia Commons Here in the U.S., our eggs mostly come in two colors: white and brown. The Araucana chicken from Chile and the Dongxiang and Lushi chickens from China (none of which are particularly common in North America) are known to lay pale-blue eggs.
What kind of virus causes chicken eggs to turn blue?
HIV is probably the best-known retrovirus. This EAV-HP retrovirus is responsible for inserting that weird gene, the one that turns the chicken eggs blue. Specifically, it changes the chemistry of the eggshell so that it can take in biliverdin, a bile pigment, from the chicken’s uterus.
Where does the Blue come from in an egg?
The color therefore becomes part of the egg and cannot be ‘rubbed off’. The blue color is carried all the way through the shell to the inside. White and blue are the two ‘true’ egg colors. Brown, olive and green can all be removed from the shell since the pigments are laid over the shell.
How long does it take for hens to shell an egg?
The normal ‘shelling process’ usually takes around 24 hours, and I have had hens produce a perfect egg followed by a shell-less egg in less than 12 hours.