what is the deal with white eggs?

[EricaNernie]

i buy them from waitrose, purely for a novelty value
i did half catch a jeremy vine radio discussion about them but didnt learn much.

is it just waitrose? or are they making a come back
i know in some respect they are aesthetically pleasing > but didnt they go out of fashion in the 70s?

@QuestaVecchiaCasa unfortunately de-beaking is just a standard battery farming technique. In short, flocks of chickens need to establish a "pecking order". They will literally peck each other until they've worked out the order, then once the order is established they are content and can go about their business (in a new group of chickens this is roughly 2 weeks). In a battery farm there are too many hens to establish an order, so they just keep pecking each other. They can do serious damage and even end up killing each other, which is obviously bad for business, so the battery farmers debeak them. It doesn't stop them pecking but limits how much damage it does.

BTW it's not necessarily white chickens that lay white eggs. We have 7 chickens, 3 of which are white "light sussexes" and their eggs are brown /speckled.
chickens are fascinating really - they're like tiny dinosaurs!

I have noticed that all eggs in America seem to be white (on tv, anyway).

As an interesting aside all eggs in America have to be washed and sanitised before they can be sold (that's not why they are white, obviously, as that comes down to the breed of chicken) whereas in the EU washing of eggs is banned. The theory is that when eggs can't be washed you can't conceal poor farming. American egg-washing is also designed to stop the spread of salmonella, whereas here we vaccinate our hens.

I think that, strangely, fashions in colour/interior design had an influence.

In the 70s, the dominant colours were often browns, burnt orange, mustards, khaki and other sludgy colours - look at a 70s cookbook and you'd see all these colours. Look at the tones in the long, peasant style, floral print dresses. Brown eggs would tone with a brown egg crock in the shape of a chicken far more than the white ones did.

White eggs don't look so startlingly bright in an Instagram-friendly kitchen.

FUN FACT Especially for those of you with hens. The colour of their shell is determined by the colour of their earlobes. Hens with red earlobes lay brown eggs, white earlobes = white eggs and shiny iridescent earlobes = blue eggs.

I remember white eggs! I guess then really it would be most ethical to buy both colours..

A neighbour sells eggs, bit too pricey, she has a box with four brown and two blue, or possibly a green one too
I do enjoy them

My white hens lay blue eggs. Two of them are fiesty gits and the other two are super mellow. I think white/brown/blue all taste the same but better when fresh.

interesting thought that perhaps we can buy them now due to demand, rather than putting them in the produce the shops are now selling them

Did the supermarkets think we wouldnt notice?

i meant demand for eggs, any eggs, and no concern about colour.

Aparently British people think brown eggs are healthier so production skews to brown.

In the US people think brown eggs are dirty so production skews to white.

People got the idea that brown eggs were healthier but there's no difference.

Beak trimming can cause pain,short and long term,and feeding problems if not done properly. It's banned in some EU countries.
I read that white breeds are less aggressive to each other but maybe they'd all benefit from better management.

@BigusBumus that's not accurate at all. I have white hens that lay brown eggs and white hens that lay blue eggs. The bantams lay very pale eggs. It's not about the colour of the chicken.

Should we blame the Enid Blyton culture? with the promise of a brown speckled egg for breakfast?

i cant believe americans think the brown egg is dirty??

does anyone here sell their eggs?

We've been delivering our excess eggs to people self isolating in our village. We have eight chickens. Most are rescue from battery farms (brown hens, not debeaked at all), we have a white and grey chicken too. They all lay brown eggs, slightly different shades and shapes, but all brown.

Interesting thread, especially Bigus' fun fact

Waitrose near me have been selling white eggs for a while. No taste difference but they do make me feel all nostalgic.

Different breeds lay different coloured eggs, I have four breeds, Legbars lay blue eggs, Marans lay really dark brown eggs, Braekels lay white eggs and Sussex lay light brown eggs. The taste and colour of yolk is the same, that comes from what they are fed. Commercially some breeds lay more consistently than others hence light brown being more common, most productive breeds lay these. I just like a mix cause it looks nice!

Oooh I love blue eggs!

I never buy eggs from the supermarket. I get free range one from numerous local small holdings. I get green/white/brown, big/small, singles/doubles. I often get doubles.

Genetics determine the colour of the shell.

Tesco sent me white eggs for the first time ever last week.

Wonder if there's been a brown egg shortage due to the stockpiling that went on..

I think it’s more likely that white eggs which were previously destined for hospitality and catering are being diverted to retail. Hens lay every day so the supply lines are pretty constant.