I used to raise chickens. The shell color is determined by the breed – some lay white, some brown, some green, pink, or blue.

The health of the chicken can be observed in the quality of its egg. The yolk should be a dark yellow, almost orange, and should stand up firm, like perfect half-dome, not sag down flat. The white should be bright and opaque and likewise should not run all over the pan in a watery fashion.

Thank you pupn Taco! Makes sense, my eggs are good and healthy then. =] Egglands Best organic. MMMM. They always seem so much thicker.

Even better, see if there’s a farmer’s market near you and buy them fresh from an organic farmer. :)

An organic LOCAL farmer. YUMMY.

MMMMM. Actually now that you mention it on my way home yesterday, I noticed there is a farmer down the street from me who sells fresh organic eggs.

Do it, and let us know if there’s a difference between theirs and store-bought organic! :D

I shall do that. =]

My children have a pair of urban chickens that we raise in the backyard. They are Dominiques(spelling), and lay brown eggs. My sister has a small farm and just got another 20 chicks to along with her original 50. The new ones are Aracaunas(again, spelling) and lay an egg almost the color of celery.

To echo what PupnTaco said, the yolks are very bright and nearly orange. This freaks some people out because it is so much different than store bought. Buy them from the local farmer. What could be better?

Commercial egg production uses white hens because that breed of chicken produce more eggs than the other colors do. Pupntaco is correct that the breed of chicken determines what color the egg shells are. Farmers tend to have brown chickens that lay brown eggs because they are hearty, healthy and taste good when they are too old to lay eggs. And the color of the shells has nothing to do with the quality of the contents.