For Modern farmer , chickens are the ultimate gateway animal . Once you ’ve added one or two wimp to your hobby farm , you all of a sudden recognize an entire world has opened up to you .
Will you keep it slowly , pick out one or two breeds that lay eggs double-dyed for breakfast ? Or , like countless others before you , will you direct down the hare pickle in search of eggs that make up the perfect rainbow 12 ?
To incur the elusive rainbow dozen , you postulate to build your flock with select poulet breeds that can bring about eggs pretty than anything you ’ve seen at Easter . Plucked from the nesting boxes and lined up in an testis cartonful , these eggs are all about aesthetic , made up with shades of vapours , green , light-headed browns , burnt umber John Brown , shades of white and , if you ’re lucky , pink , too .
If you trade your eggs for profit , you ’ll discover a XII rainbow eggs will fly off the shelf of your farm stand . Even if you do n’t betray your eggs , there ’s nothing like heading out to the coop with your eggs pail and discovering the awe-inspiring shades of the sidereal day .
Color Science
If you ’ve seen a bright grim or deep chocolate - colored orchis , you might be surprised to know that bollock really started out blanched . From jump to finish , it takes around 26 hours for an egg to move around through the chicken ’s oviduct . Twenty of those time of day are spent completing the shell .
Some hoot , such as the Ameraucana , have the paint oocyanin deposit on the egg as it travels through the oviduct .
“ This paint permeates the eggshell ensue in the Interior Department and exterior of the egg being the same puritanic color , ” according toMichigan State University Extension . “ wimp that lay brown - tinge eggs wedge the pigment protoporphyrin on the eggs late in the unconscious process of forming the shell . The paint therefore does not penetrate the interior of the egg , but tints only the surface of the egg , which is why brown eggs are ashen on the interior .
Shelly Wutke
“ In the event of an Olive Egger , a brown pigment overlays a blue shell result in a green nut . The darker the brown pigment , the more European olive tree color of the resulting ballock . ”
While you ca n’t see the petite details , if it ’s a rainbow dozen you ’ve position your sight on , these are the poulet you ’re see for .
No farm ? No problem . Read more about urban Gallus gallus - retention here .
Shelly Wutke
Blue Bets
Blue eggs are the most seek - after egg colour . Depending on your chicken of choice , you ’ll find different spook of gamey , too .
Araucanas
This is a uncommon breed , so you probably wo n’t discover an Araucana chick at your local feed - supplying shop .
While they lack beards , muff and tush plume , Araucana chickens have ear tufts proceed wild , erupting from the side of the head like a 70s - way bob .
They lay approximately 250 jolly blue eggs per year to help bring blue shades to your rainbow 12 .
Shelly Wutke
Ameraucanas
Chicken enthusiasts select Ameraucana crybaby base on looks alone . They have sweet-flavored cheek with small muffs erupt from their cheek , pea coxcomb and well-disposed disposal .
Ameraucana chickens come in a assortment of color include
This strain is an offshoot of the Araucana . And if you have a on-key Ameraucana in your hen house , you ’ll be treated to around 250 bright risque or pallid gloomy eggs per class .
Keep in mind that if there ’s a intersection of your Ameraucana with other chicken breeds , your egg could stop up a refinement of fleeceable instead of blue .
Cream Legbars
The Cream Legbar is another relatively rare volaille strain , but if you’re able to get your hands on one or more of these hens , you ’ll love eggs in a beautiful disconsolate semblance .
Not as fecund a layer as the Ameraucana or Araucana , they ’ll lay an average of 180 sky - blue eggs per year .
Cream Legbars are also unique in that they are auto - sexing . This means you could tell the female chicks from the male chicks upon hatch .
White Wonders
An nut with a blank colour might seem almost boring in comparison to low-spirited , green or chocolate John Brown . But white eggs are a solid staple for your rainbow dozen . Shelly Wutke
White Leghorns
When you want white nut and batch of them , the White Leghorn is the Gallus gallus to choose . A breed that ’s an above - average bed , it can get up to 300 eggs per twelvemonth and may even keep lay through a foresighted , dour winter .
know for its large , floppy coxcomb and white feathers , the White Leghorn is a skillful flyer . The stock enjoy to explore and is a worthful addition to any flock .
Anconas
tot a few Ancona hens to your flock , and you ’ll delight a sturdy breed that lays an average of 220 big , white ballock per year .
The Ancona is a heritage strain that does groovy in all type of weather . It is known for its power to scrounge and its lack of interestingness in brooding .
Polish
Chicken fans bed the Polish breed for the large muff on top of its head word . It almost completely obscures its centre , so you ’ll find this chicken is perpetually surprise by the world right in front of its beaks .
Keep in mind that most chicken - keeper choose this strain for its stylish appearance . But a Polish hen can still lay 120 to 200 white orchis per year .
delay out these four ornamental chicken breeds to summate to the yard .
Cream to Light Brown
Off - white is n’t just a nicety you paint the walls in your menage . It ’s a great color to add for line in your rainbow dozen , and there are a few hens that lie in that shade of egg .
Brahmas
The Brahma are fluffy wench with feather foot and a unruffled temperament . You’ll jazz them for their size of it and flair . But you ’ll really take account the lightheaded chocolate-brown eggs they lay .
you’re able to find Brahma volaille in Dark , Buff and Light coloring . And they lay approximately 200 medium - sized egg per yr .
Wyandottes
Even in the inhuman month , the Wyandotte is a tranquil , friendly volaille that will faithfully produce egg throughout the year .
You ’ll love the intricate lacing on their feathers , and the dissimilar colors including Golden Laced , Buff Laced and Silver Laced .
Keepers get approximately four light brown eggs per workweek from this type of Gallus gallus , amount to an average of 250 per yr . Just keep in mind that if you pass on a stilt of egg near a Wyandotte , she may just settle she ’s found the perfect dapple to hatch a new family .
Silkies
Every novel chicken - keeper have sex the silky breed of Gallus gallus . acknowledge for its soft , fluffy appearance , the Silky is a modest chicken that ’s pick more for sizing than yield .
They total in nonbearded ( Black , Buff , Gray , Partridge and White ) and bearded ( Black , Blue , Buff , Gray , Partridge , Splash , White and Self Blue ) varieties .
A Silky hen is a known incubator . But she will also lay around 120 small lily-white eggs per twelvemonth .
Brown & Beautiful
An ballock or two with a brown color is the staple fibre that ties your rainbow dozen together . You may need to take more than one dark-brown egg stratum .
Rhode Island Reds
One of the most popular breeds of chicken , the Rhode Island Red is recognize for fervid red feathers , its soft - going and favorable nature , and the power to rest magnanimous to redundant - large brown bollock .
On intermediate , you ’ll get 300 or more eggs per year from a Rhode Island Red hen .
Barred Plymouth Rocks
The Barred Rock is another democratic fount in the hen business firm .
This gray speckled poulet is wide known for its sweet-flavored nature , lack of sake in brooding and the power to lay at least 200 heavy brownish eggs per hebdomad . Shelly Wutke
Australorps
Every flock involve an Australorp or two . you may find gamy , white or shiny , fatal Australorps with splashes of purple .
No matter which you choose , an Australorp hen will be heavy , sturdy and able to lie an average of 250 medium dark-brown eggs per year .
Chocolate
On the scale of one to blue , you ’ll find that recondite , dark hot chocolate runs second in the top 10 most - essay after egg color in a rainbow dozen .
Black Copper Marans
Out of all the chickens that lie saturnine brown egg , the Black Copper Marans will give rise the darkest .
This breed is known for quality , not quantity , because the Black Copper Marans is not the most fat of level .
While you ’ll want to fill up up your orchis carton with these big , beautiful eggs , the average biddy may only lie three eggs per week or 150 to 200 per class .
Welsummers
No two Welsummer hens are alike , especially when it come to nut .
Some will position chocolate brown eggs . Other Welsummer egg appear speckled or exhibit a patchy pigmentation .
Despite that bit of dubiety , the Welsummer is a swell addition to your flock thanks to its power to lay up to 250 large eggs per class .
Barnvelders
They have beautiful feathers , low - key dispositions and lay the prettiest cocoa brown ballock colour .
If you have the chance to add a Barnvelder or three to your flock , you should do so in a hastiness . Once these hens do of age , they ’ll fill up your nesting boxes with an average of 200 dark brown egg per twelvemonth .
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Green with Envy
Pale green , khaki K or a beautiful green - blue — it ’s leisurely to obtain a green egg color . But most of the chicken who set them are n’t recognized as breeds on their own .
Isbar
The Swedish Isbar is a uncommon poulet strain , so it ’s definitely not one you ’ll find in your local farm - supplying memory board .
If you do manage to find an Isbar , you ’ll bask a regal poulet with a single comb and productive egg schedule . Isbar hen will lay approximately 200 eggs per class in various shades of green .
Olive Eggers
An Olive Egger is n’t a strain itself . Rather , it ’s a hybrid that happens when you cross a saturnine brown egg - level with a blue egg - layer . Anyone with a dark chocolate-brown egg - stratum stock and a dismal ball - layer breed — such as a Black Copper Marans and an Ameraucana — can hatch their own Oliver Eggers . ( Of naturally , one of the two has to be a rooster ! )
Once you do , you ’ll enjoy around 200 beautiful green nut in various shade .
With a variety of these chickens cozying up in your nesting box , every twenty-four hours will bring a unique mix of contrast and color .
This article originally appeared in the May / June 2020 issue ofChickensmagazine .
