06/22/2026
I’d like to show you the difference between the eggs of our two breeds of laying hens.
This morning I actually had eggs from both breeds on the frying pan and the difference is quite noticeable! It’s kind of neat!
You’ll see, in the pics, one yolk is more yellow and flatter and two yolks are more orange and plump looking.
The yellow yolk is from our Rhode Island Reds which lay brown eggs (in pic w/ 4 eggs on top). These are what we currently sell. These are a really good chicken breed and would recommend them anyone. Good eggs too.
The eggs with the more orange yolks are from our American Bresse layers. Their egg shells are quite a bit lighter, more whitish (in pic w/ 4 eggs on the bottom). We haven’t been selling these yet because the egg is smaller. They are new layers and thought in time the eggs would be bigger but that isn’t the case yet. 🤷🏼♀️
So if you’re wondering, “why the difference in yolk color?”
It’s the foraging. The diverse diet with more plant food than grains.
The more close to orange the yolks are and the more yellow the white’s are, the more diverse their diet is especially plant food. While, both eggs are still very similar in nutritional value, same protein, etc., the eggs with more orange yolks may contain more omega 3s, vitamin A and antioxidants.
One thing we’ve noticed is our Bresse chickens are extreme foragers! As soon as I open their door in the morning, they’re out… everywhere… chasing down bugs, foraging the vegetation and scratching through the cow patties. They are out most of the day. They hardly consume the feed we have for them.
For some reason our Rhode Island Red’s aren’t as extreme. They do bust out the door when I open it and do venture out and forage but not near like the Bresse. These RIRs do consume quite a bit more of feed compared to the others.
Please note I’m not saying that RIRs aren’t good! I’m just saying for some reason ours are more dependent on their feed. Not sure why.
We are planning to downsize the chicken flock and possibly combine them into one. So I’m anxious to see if things change.
I probably will start offering the Bresse eggs for sale. They are still a very good egg with a bit more nutrition but just a bit smaller in size.
Anyways, I just thought I’d share that with you since I had the difference right in front of me today!
And don’t forget to check out our website.. we have whole chickens and a few packages of chickens cuts still available!
