Brown Eggs vs White Eggs vs Blue Eggs

The other day I needed to borrow a few eggs and my friend gave me a dozen of brown and white eggs mixed. She mentioned that the brown eggs were healthier and she was very happy to give them to me. I was very appreciative of the eggs, however, I disagreed about the nutritional value of the brown eggs being healthier. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I was sure that I had researched this in the past and that was my takeaway.

Brown, white and blue eggs get their color from the color of the hen's feathers. Photo by

Photo by Myriams

She was so adamant that she was right that I needed to research this again - and here is what I found out.

Brown Eggs are laid by Brown or Red Feathered Hens with red earlobes
White Eggs are laid by White Feathered Hens with white earlobes
AND Blue Eggs are laid by the Ameraucana breed.

There may be some other slight coloration issues and definitely nutritional differences if the chickens are caged, vegetarian-fed, have added supplements to their food, or are wonderfully cage-free and eat what they want in the great outdoors without pesticides or antibiotics.

However, the average egg is about 70 calories, 6 grams of protein, and a generous helping of B vitamins. Nutritional values depend on the feed that may be added to the chicken's diet.