What does the color of an eggshell depend on?

1. The color of the eggshell is determined by the hen's genes

An egg takes about 26 hours from formation to lay, and the formation of the eggshell begins at the 6th hour. The main component of the eggshell is calcium carbonate, and the eggshell remains white as calcium carbonate until the last 3-4 hours. Thereafter, what and how much pigment is deposited on the shell determines the final color of the shell.

If there is no pigmentation, the eggshell is white.

If there is protoporphyrin pigment deposition, then the egg shell will appear brown, also known as the "red shell".

If biliverdin is deposited, then blue eggshells form.

If there are both brown and blue pigments, the mixture of the two gives a green color.

As for what kind of pigmentation there is, it is controlled by the genes of the hen. Scientists still don't fully understand the genetic regulation of these pigments, but a wealth of data shows that the color of an egg's shell is determined by the breed of the chicken -- a hen that lays white eggs, no matter how you feed it, it is impossible to make eggshells colored; a hen that lays colored eggs cannot lay white eggs either.

2. Other factors that affect the color of eggshells

Genetic factors are the root cause of what color eggshells take on. In addition, there are many factors that, although not changing the color, have a certain effect on the depth of the color. Of these factors, the most influential is the age of the hen.

The hens in the early stage of laying are prone to laying double-yolked eggs and their size will be larger, but if the first laying is normal eggs, the eggs will usually be smaller in size, and then gradually become larger as the chicken age increases. However, even though the eggs subsequently increased in size, the calcium carbonate and pigment deposited by the hens on the eggs did not increase accordingly.

The larger the egg, the larger the surface area. Since there is no corresponding increase in the raw materials for forming the eggshell, it can only be dealt with by reducing the thickness of the eggshell; the pigment deposited on the eggshell also does not increase accordingly, so the density of the pigment can only be reduced— - Large eggs in the late laying period are lighter in color.

In addition, in recent years studiers have found that the color of eggshells of the same breed of hens under free-range conditions is lighter than that of caged ones, and adding probiotics to the feed will improve the quality of "red shells"; If hens are frightened or disturbed when eggsells are synthesizing or secreting pigment, abnormal or insufficient pigment secretion will occur, which will make the color of the eggshell lighter; diseases and certain drugs will also affect the color of the eggshell.

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