Random question - UK vs. US eggs

(Allie) #1

Just curious… whenever I see photos or videos showing eggs in the US they are always white, but here in the U.K. regular eggs are brown.

What gives?! :joy:

White eggs vs Brown eggs
(Carpe salata!) #2

It’s a different breed of hen.

(jilliangordona) #3

In the US, people also seem to think that brown eggs are healthier as well, when in reality egg shell color has nothing to do with the nutrition of the egg!

(Allie) #4

I wondered if it was a different breed or maybe duck eggs instead. Thank you :blush:

I always assumed the colour of the yolk was what showed how healthy the egg was, don’t know if that’s accurate or not though?

(jilliangordona) #5

It is a much better marker for sure!

(Brian) #6

In the US, the Leghorn is pretty much the go-to breed of chicken for egg production. They’re fairly small birds and very efficient at converting feed into eggs and they’re generally very good layers. At least that’s the general theme of big agriculture.

To be fair, I have no issue with Leghorns. They really are excellent layers. I don’t like the way commercial agriculture has stuck them into tiny cages in huge houses for production maximization. They could have done that with any breed but the Leghorn being a smaller build that lays a bit more efficiently was their primary choice. Hence, most eggs on the grocery store shelves have been white.

The concept of the brown egg being a healthier alternative has brought about a bit of a shift in egg shell color in the past few years in the US and there are more brown eggs on grocery store shelves than there used to be. (I don’t personally believe that health has much to do with the breed of chicken. Health has a lot more to do with how the chicken lives, it’s environment and what it eats, than who it’s parents were.)

That said, it’s been quite a while since I bought an egg from the grocery store. I’ve several people recently, in my area, that are raising chickens, out on pasture, the way I would if I were raising chickens myself. Love it! Excellent quality eggs, and that’s important to me when consuming a fairly large quantity of them. The few times I’ve had to get eggs in the grocery store, I’ve been very disappointed in the quality of them, even when seeing names like “Eggland’s Best” or seeing words like “pasture raised”.

It’s interesting that the last eggs I got from one of the locals were quite interesting. There were lighter colored brown ones, (none quite white, though), and darker colored brown ones, and some in between, and also a green egg in there, too. Occasionally, I might even get a blue one. Araucana chickens can lay eggs that are pink (pretty much light brown), blue (kinda like the color of a Robin’s egg), or olive drab green (wonderful for asking someone if they need some green eggs to go with their ham. LOL!) So far, those don’t come from any grocery store that I know of. But they’re wonderful quality eggs.

I don’t know enough about ducks to know whether all of their eggs are white or not. The only ones I’ve seen are white. We had the chance to eat some duck eggs a couple of months ago. They’re similar to chicken eggs but had just a bit of a gamey flavor and were more rich than chicken eggs, at least to my taste. They tell me that some ducks are excellent layers and that they’re not as susceptible to dropping off of the laying when the seasons change as chickens are. I don’t know but have thought maybe I’d like to give a try at raising ducks someday. Also, I’m told that duck eggs are excellent for baking, too, though I haven’t had a chance to try that one out.

:slight_smile:

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #7

In good-quality supermarkets in the UK the norm now is that eggs will be from “free range chickens”, i.e. not confined to horrible wire cages (so-called “batteries”, and hence “battery hens”), and seem mostly to be brown coloured, no doubt because this is perceived as healthier.

The ones I buy tend to buy come from a specific breed. I’ll have to check what that is next time I buy some, as I don’t have a box to hand. (They are compostible and have gone into the compost bin!).

(Allie) #8

Not completely free range Mike, but battery cages have been banned and the birds have to be given minimum care standards and this includes stipulations for space and earth to scratch on. Some people say it’s not better be buy eggs that say they’re from caged hens as the law now gives them better living standards than the free range birds which are often overcrowded and stressed.

(Jan) #9

@Bellyman, my ducks start out laying pretty pale blue-green eggs, which gradually get whiter as they get older. And I have one pure black duck…can’t remember the breed just now…but her eggs are charcoal gray in spring, fading to light gray in fall.
Duck eggs are wonderful to bake with, too. The yolk is bigger in proportion to the white, and (from what I’ve read) higher in Omega-3’s.
I’ve never noticed anything gamey-tasting with our duck eggs. Flavor wise, they aren’t really different than our chicken eggs. But they are definitely richer.

(Gill Martin) #10

My free range hens (both white & brown hens) lay eggs related to their feather colours, pale hen = light shell eggs, brown hen’s = dark shell eggs they all lay eggs with very yellow yolks if I mix maize into their wheat. Not sure if it changes anything nutritionally.:slightly_smiling_face:

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #11

Possibly. I mostly shop at Waitrose, who make a big deal about being “ethical” and claim to have a close relationship with the farmers who supply their produce. Not that I trust them totally, but I trust them more than some other chains.

(Allie) #12

Co-op is very good for this too

(Norma Laming) #13

It is a different breed of hen. Some breeds lay white eggs, others lay brown. From memory Rhode Island Reds lay brown. It has nothing to do with the nutrition in the yolk, which is determined, unsurprisingly, by the diet fed to the hen. Be aware that colouring added to the diet will darken the colour of the yolk. So better to look for organic Soil Association eggs in the UK.

(Ethan) #14

Duck eggs are also tougher when cooked–especially fried.

(Jan) #15

Yes, @EZB, the whites of duck eggs are firmer when fried. Doesn’t bother us at all, and less firm when they’re cooked at a lower temperature.

(Ethan) #16

I’ll try lower temps. It was too rubbery for me.

(Brian) #17

Yes, overcooking an egg can make it very tough and rubbery. But when they’re just cooked and no more… mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!!!

#18

I find this hilarious “my BROWN eggs” as if they are inherently better. I think there’s also a markup but most stores seem to carry more brown than white these days.

(jilliangordona) #19

Me too, road side stands even sell brown eggs at a higher price because they know people will pay them. Crazy.

(mike) #20

Doesn’t anyone remember this marketing meme?

“Brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh?”

Burned into my brain after many years. Likely untrue too.