Chickens That Lay Blue Eggs - Adding Blue Eggs to Your Flock

Whether you are just getting into chickens or have had them for a while, you may think that eggs come in just one or two colors.  Usually, when you think of chicken eggs, you think of white eggs or brown eggs.  However, did you know that there are chickens that lay blue eggs?

When we first found out that there are blue egg chickens we HAD to add some to our flock - IMMEDIATELY.  I mean, how cool to have a different, fun color in your egg basket, right?  We immediately started looking for some.

There are so many different chicken breeds out there that I guess it shouldn't be too terribly surprising that not all lay the same colored eggs.  However, I still get excited when we go out to collect eggs and get some brilliantly colored blue eggs.

What Chickens Lay Blue Eggs?

• Araucana
• Ameraucana
• Cream Legbar
• Easter Egger
• Super Blue Egg Layer
• Whiting True Blue
• White Sapphire
• Lakeside Egger

These 8 breeds are all blue egg laying chickens. The Araucana, Ameraucana and Cream Legbar are purebred standalone chicken breeds. While the other 4 are either hybrids (created be breeding two breeds together) or new breeds that are or have been developed through selective breeding.

People have begun developing these hybrids due to the popularity of blue colored eggs. The hybrids often times are crossed with high egg production birds like Leghorn chickens to get very prolific layers of blue eggs.

Additionally, all, except the Easter Egger are guaranteed to lay a blue egg. Easter Eggers can lay other colors as well, so owning that breed is not an absolute guarantee at getting blue eggs.

1) Araucana

Aracuanas are one type of chicken that lays blue eggs.  They are a more unique chicken breed and are not super common.

Aracuana chickens are usually rumpless and have tufts, so they are definitely an interesting addition to any flock. They are not super common, so you have to really look for a good breeder for this breed.

They are originally from Chile and started to become popular in the US in the 1970s. Unfortunately the gene that creates their cool tufts also can be deadly and so this breed can be difficult to hatch.

2) Ameraucana

Ameraucanas are also chickens that lay blue eggs.  They are more common that Araucana's, but they are also often confused with Easter Eggers.  There are many differences between Araucana, Ameraucana and Easter Egger chickens.

Ameraucana's have muffs and beards and come in a whole variety of colors including Blue, Black, Splash, Wheaton and others. They are really pretty decent egg layers.  So, they make a good addition if you are looking for a solid backyard flock bird.

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3) Cream Legbar

Cream legbars are a fun breed that makes blue eggs.  They are not a super common breed, but they are popular among many chicken owners.

Due to the fact that they are a little less common, they do also tend to be a little more expensive.

However, their cost is definitely worth it as they not only lay blue eggs, they are also an autosexing chicken breed.  That means that you can tell pullet from cockerel at hatch!  It's not always so simple to tell how to sex a chicken.

Cream Legbars are also usually friendly birds who are good egg layers and good foragers.  This means they will give you a decent amount of eggs without eating too much feed.  If you are looking for one of the most interesting chickens that lay blue eggs, this breed may well be it!

4) Easter Eggers - sometimes.

Easter Eggers are one of our personal favorite chicken breeds.  They come in a variety of colors, patterns, and sizes (like Bantam Chicken Easter Eggers).  And they often times have interesting features like muffs and beards.

Easter Eggers are not a true breed however.  They are a hybrid or mix of chicken breeds.  Due to this fact, it is not guaranteed that they will all lay blue eggs.  Easter Eggers are also one of the chickens that lay green eggs.

Easter Eggers are typically created by breeding a dark brown egg layer like a Marans or Welsummer with a purebred blue egg layer like an Ameraucana (this is why a lot of Easter Eggers have muffs and bears).

5) Super Blue Egg Layer

There are several "newer" blue egg chickens that are also hybrids - similar to Easter Eggers.  However, unlike Easter Eggers, these blue egg layers have been bred specifically for blue eggs only and high production.

The Super Blue Egg layer is an example of one of these newer hybrid breeds. These don't specify which breeds were used to create them. However, their pea comb seems to indicate it's likely Easter Egger or Ameraucanas crossed with another production laying bird.

They lay extra large eggs around 5 times per week, so are pretty prolific egg layers.

6) Whiting True Blue

Whiting True Blues are a newer breed that was developed by Tom Whiting (a poultry geneticist) via selective breeding. Since they are actually considered a breed and not a hybrid, this means that they will breed true.

Breeding true means you can create more of the same birds by breeding them together. (Unlike with hybrids, where you will not get standard offspring).

Whiting True Blues lay large eggs and are heat tolerant, so will do well throughout the summer. Additionally they are not very large birds and they enjoy free ranging, so they will not the cost to feed these chickens is not too high.

7) White Sapphire

White Sapphires are another hybrid chicken that was bred specifically to be a prolific blue egg layer. They are a mix of Cream Legbars over Leghorns. Which has resulted in a pretty neat looking bird.

They are mostly white in color and have little crests like Cream Legbars do. But sometimes will have flecks of color, mostly black in amongst their white coloring.

They lay a large blue egg and do not go broody often. Additionally, they are both heat and cold tolerant which means they will lay well year round.

8) Lakeside Egger

Yet another hybrid that lays blue eggs, the Lakeside Egger was again developed specifically to lay lots of blue eggs year round.

They are a stunning looking bird with that is a black and white chicken breed with a barred feather pattern, crests and beards. Though, it is not mentioned exactly what birds are bred together to create this hybrid, their looks indicate that Cream Legbars are likely involved.

They are both cold and heat hearty. You can expect 4 - 5 medium to large sized blue eggs per week from this breed. Additionally, they typically start laying a smidge earlier than average at abut 4 - 5 months of age.

How do they do it?

Ok, so you may wonder, how do they do it?  Afterall, the majority of chickens do lay white or brown eggs.  So, what makes for a different color such as blue?

Without getting too "scienc-y", chickens that lay blue eggs basically deposit that blue color onto the eggs.

You might be interested to know that all chickens eggs start out as white (source).  Chickens that lay white eggs just simply lay the eggs in that original form.

In order to make the eggs a different color, there it is laid onto the egg shell.  The eggs start as a white egg and as it is being formed it basically has a pigment put on it.  This pigment, called oocyanin, takes the white egg and turns it into a blue egg.  This color change happens as the egg is being formed in the chickens oviduct. (source).

So, essentially, chicken egg color is sort of similar to skin color in that the pigment put into it will dictate the tone and color.  Like when you tan - melanin is produced in your skin creating a darker "tan" color.  Not exactly the same process, obviously, but sort of a similar idea.

A difference between making these and brown eggs is that the blue pigment goes through the entire eggshell.  This means that the inside of the eggshell also appears blue, not just the outside.

Blue Eggs - do they taste the same as "other eggs"?

Now that you know what breeds to choose from, you may wonder if blue eggs taste the same as other eggs.

Yes, the simple and easy answer is yes!  As we discussed above, these eggs are produced the same exact way a white or brown egg is, but with a simple addition of a pigment right before final laying.  Therefore, they should be otherwise the same.

The only difference is the pigment that is laid into the egg during the shell formation.

We have also been asked if they are safe to eat.  Again, this is a resounding yes!  They really are the same as the egg colors you are used to in terms of nutrition and all.

They have gotten more and more popular, and I have even seen some being sold in the grocery store now!  But they are SUPER expensive.  They cost probably two to three times the other eggs, so it would be way cheaper to just add a few of the breeds above and get your own instead of buying them.

Now that you know all about chickens that lay blue eggs, which ones will you be adding to your flock?