There are so many chicken breeds in the world, that it should come as no real surprise that there are chickens that lay green eggs.
Afterall, there are other chickens that lay colored eggs, frizzle chickens, bantam chickens, salmon faverolle, and all sorts of other fun types of chickens. So, getting green chicken eggs is not too much of a stretch.
We have all kinds of different breeds in our layer flock, and when we started getting our flock together, we intentionally added in some chickens that lay green eggs. We wanted to get all the different possible egg colors from our chickens.
Keep reading to find out exactly what breeds you need to get to have green eggs in your basket as well as FAQ about how green eggs are made and if they are different than other colored eggs.
Jump to:
What Chickens Lay Green Eggs?
- Isbar
- Easter Egger
- Favaucana
- Olive Egger
- Green Queen
- Steele Egger
- Sage Gem
- Ice Cream Bar
All of these breeds except the Isbar are hybrid chickens. That simply means, they are not a purebred chicken, but are a cross of two different breeds.
Green eggs have become so popular that a lot of breeders and hatcheries are developing their own "breed" by regularly combining the same two breeds together to create a more standard offspring.
Like with any hybrids, their actual qualities can vary, but when a breeder or hatchery work with the same lines they can create a much more predictable result.
Isbar
Isbar's may be the one purebred chicken that lays green eggs. They were developed in Sweden and lay varying colors of green eggs, sometimes with brown spots. Isbar's are considered a rare breed.
Another interesting fact about Isbars is that they are autosexing - this means that you can tell the sex of the chicks at hatch.
Easter Egger
Easter Eggers, while commonly referred to as a breed are not a purebred chicken. They are simply a cross of a blue egg layer with a brown egg layer.
Easter Eggers are above average year round layers of medium sized green eggs. Make sure you know how to tell Easter Eggers Vs Ameraucanas as often times you will see them mis-labeled at feed stores.
Favaucana - Faverolles x Ameraucana
Favaucana's are one of the types of chickens that lay green eggs which is also technically an Easter Egger. You can make your own Favaucana's by breeding faverolles and Ameraucanas.
Or, you can order them at some hatcheries like MyPetChicken.
Olive Egger
Technically speaking an olive egger is a type of Easter Egger. Olive eggers are, as you can probably guess by their name one of the chickens that lays green eggs which are a dark olive green in color.
Olive Eggers are a cross of a chicken that lays blue eggs (like a cream legbar or an ameraucana) with a chicken that lays a dark brown egg (like a Marans or a Welsummer). The blue egg has the brown tint added on making the egg appear olive green.
To get darker olive colored eggs, simply mix in chickens that lay darker chocolate colored eggs.
Need some help keeping your chickens health and care taken care of? Check out the Organized Chicken Keeper for an easy to follow system.
Green Queen
This is yet another hybrid chicken. Really, this could be considered a type of Easter Egger
Green Queens lay about 4 - 6 eggs per week and are very hardy. They can have feathered legs, muffs and beards as well. They come in both standard/large fowl and bantam sizes You can find these at Meyer Hatchery.
Steele Egger
These are again a hybrid bird that has recently been developed for the purpose of laying lots of green eggs. They were created by Lisa Steele at Fresh Eggs Daily.
These are beautiful blue or splash colored chickens which most often have funky crests on the top of their heds. They produce about 3 -5 eggs per week.
Sage Gem
Another in a long list of hybrids green egg layers. The Sage Gem is a bantam chicken .
This breed lays sage green (hence their name) eggs. However, as with most hybrids, they can vary a bit from that sage green all the way to a brown-earthy tone colored egg. They are generally good layers at around 4 -6 eggs per week.
They are a fun little chicken that can have feathered legs, crests, beards and muffs.
Ice Cream Bar
This hybrid is made by crossing Isbars and Cream Legbars. The resulting chicken will lay a beautiful aqua colored egg.
This is a super fun breed that lay around 4 - 6 eggs per week or 240 per year. They tend to follow the traits of their parents by being wonderful foragers with easy going personalities.
What Makes Green Eggs?
If you have read about how chickens make blue eggs, you may have a bit of an idea as to how green chicken eggs may come about. All eggs start out white in color.
The egg color differences then come about by pigment being added to the shell during the time that the egg passes through the chickens oviduct. When and what kind of pigment is added determines the ultimate color of the egg. (source)
Most chickens that lay green eggs have a blue egg base that then gets a brown egg tint put over top at the end of the egg formation process. (source) This results in green chicken eggs!
Why Would you Want Chickens That Lay Green Eggs?
The main reason to get chickens that lay green eggs is just to add a little fun and color to your egg basket. Also, if you are trying to make money raising chickens colored egg layers are always a popular choice for chicks to sell.
Another cool thing to having chickens that lay green (or other colored) eggs in your flock is it can help you tell which chickens are and are not laying.
Are Green Eggs Different Than Other Eggs?
Green chicken eggs are obviously different than other eggs in color. That's the whole point, right? But in terms of taste, nutrition and all of the actual egg components, no, green eggs are no different than other eggs.
Additionally, chickens that lay green eggs start laying eggs around the same time as other chicken breeds. Make sure you know the signs a chicken is ready to lay eggs so you know when to start looking for your first eggs.
If you need more help with taking care of your chickens, check out The Organized Chicken Keeper for a complete system for managing their health through keeping their supplies stocked and coop clean.
Ralph says
for a homesteaders having multiple colored egg layers , helps keep track of which are laying those that are not. Let’s not place all our eggs in the same basket... comes into play here.