Yes, green eggs are actually a thing, and we don’t mean easter painted green eggs. You might be used to the normal white eggs or the all too common brown eggs. However, there are a couple of chicken breeds that lay green eggs. As a matter of fact, there are quite a number of chicken breeds that lay colourful eggs ranging from red, purple, blue and also pinkish eggs. We will however focus on the breeds that lay green eggs in this article.
Most of the chickens that lay green eggs are a crossbreed between two types of chicken breeds. A good example of this is the Isbar. Some of the breeds that lay green eggs include:
– Isbar
– Favaucana
– Olive eggers
– Easter egger
– Ice cream bars
Before we look in detail at each breed, let’s try and answer a common question among chicken farmers. Why would a chicken lay green eggs? The same question could be asked about any other egg colour.
Why would a chicken lay green eggs?
There are a couple of reasons why a chicken would lay green eggs. Egg colour is a result of the genetics of the chicken. That’s why not all chicken breeds can lay green eggs.
According to Michigan State University Extension, all eggs start off as having a white shell. The shell pigmentation then happens when the egg is travelling through the oviduct, a journey that takes approximately 26 hours to complete. This is where the different breeds pigment the shell. This pigment fills the eggshell resulting in green colour.
Although the colour of eggshells might vary depending on the breed, there are no significant differences between the eggs.
1. Isbar (Pronounced as Ice bar)
Isbar aka Silverudd Blue is a chicken breed that was created by Martin Silverudd, a pastor from Sweden. Isbar is a crossbreed between Rhode Island Red and New Hampshire. They are excellent egg producers, approximating around 200-250 eggs per year.
One of the main features of this breed is of course the green colour of the eggs it produces. They are also known to be friendly and calm.
2. Favaucana
Favaucana is a hybrid between Faverolles and Amerucana, created by My Pet Chicken. These chickens are becoming more and more popular among chicken breeders due to their lovely coloured green eggs and their excellent egg-laying capabilities.
They are also a suitable breed for backyard chicken breeders as they have a sweet and friendly personality.
3. Olive Eggers
Olive eggers are not a breed on their own. They are a result of cross-breeding two breeds together, usually a dark brown egg layer and a blue egg layer. The result is an Olive Egger chicken that lays lovely green coloured eggs.
Olive eggers take up the trait of both parents, so they might vary depending on the breed of the parents.
4. Easter Egger
Another hybrid chicken that lays green eggs is the lovable easter egger. They came about when breeders started cross-breeding Araucana or Ameraucanas (which have blue egg-laying genes) with other breeds, mostly brown egg-laying breeds. The result is a hybrid that lays green/olive eggs.
5. Ice cream bars
You might have guessed this one. The Ice cream bar is a hybrid between Isbar and Cream Legbar chickens. It is a fairly new breed compared to the rest of the breeds that are listed here.
The egg colour of Ice cream bars does tend to fall between a blueish and greenish colour, depending on the individual chicken and the parent’s genes.
White chicken that lay green eggs
As we have seen, most of the breeds that lay green eggs are crossbreeds between two chicken breeds. Therefore, depending on the colour of the parents, the hybrid might have one dorminant colour from either parents, and some might not have a definite colour.
An example of a white chicken that lays green eggs is the Splash Isbar chicken, which is white to a degree with splashes of blue.
The Ice cream bars can also have a dorminant white colour, so it might also fall into this category.
Black chicken that lay green eggs
A black chicken that lays green eggs is the Black Isbar chicken. Isbar chicken come in three variations of colours: black, blue and splash. An adult black isbar chicken is almost jet black, and lays green eggs.
Here are some pictures of chickens that lay green eggs
