What affects the color of the yolk and shell of chicken eggs

The color of the eggshell, like the shade of the yolk, worries the potential consumer, since in his mind the products with a darker shell color and a more intense shade of yellow substance are directly related to a higher content of valuable elements. Is this so and how much the color scale affects the strength and taste characteristics of the product? Let's try to figure it out in this article.

Experts note that this approach is erroneous, since more yellow and even orange shades of the gamut may indicate not at all an increased nutritional value of eggs, but the use of special chemicals when feeding layers. On the other hand, the faintly colored yellow substance of the poultry product may indicate a weakened organism of the individual who produced it, or that in the process of feeding it, poor quality grain was used, and there were almost no nutritional supplements.

The answers to these questions are inextricably linked to the factors that affect the color scale of the eggshell and the saturation of the yolk hue.There is a widespread controversial opinion among the population that the brown color of the eggshell indicates the "home content" of the layer, in contrast to the products of the white hue of the shell, to which they attribute lower nutritional qualities. Despite the fact that the shade of the shell, according to proven scientific data, is determined by the breed of chicken, habitat and conditions of detention, people persist in the belief that the white color of products is a marker of their factory production.

In turn, the light shades of the shell and the central part of the egg, associated, in their opinion, with obtaining in an incubator, imply worse living conditions than in subsidiary and farms and, as a result, lower nutritional quality of such products. In fact, scientists have not found any correlation between the color of the masonry elements and their consumer characteristics. And some scientists even cite the fact that colored eggs are more susceptible to blood stains in the yolk area to refute the prevailing opinion, which reduces the demand for this type of product.

What determines the color of a chicken egg shell

As is known from the school course in biology, the formation of signs is influenced by a combination of genetic information and external conditions, which manifests itself in a change in the inherent characteristics under the influence of environmental parameters.

What determines the color of a chicken egg shell?

Experts identify the following factors that affect the shade and color of the shell of a chicken egg:

1. Breed refers to one of the dominant factors that determine the characteristics of layers in terms of productivity, weight of an individual egg, the period of active clutch, the ratio of meat and egg components in the economic justification of the content of a particular breed. Scientists argue that there is a direct relationship between the color of a bird's plumage and the shade of the eggs it brings. So, chickens with light colored feathers, for example, the Russian White and Leghorn breeds, bring white products. In addition, the listed breeds are distinguished by high productivity, which determines their choice for industrial breeding. When choosing a breed, small producers and farmers tend to find a balance between meat and egg directions, as a result of which they prefer to breed more versatile types of layers. Such varieties of chickens as Rhode Island and Orpington belong to the egg-meat direction; when kept, their masonry products have a brown tint, which coincides with the corresponding color of feathers and refutes the opinion of the population about the predominant influence on the color of the shell of the conditions of keeping layers. Chickens with golden, reddish and orange feathers also bring dark-colored clutches.

Important! Experienced breeders call it earlobe color,according to their observations, it coincides with the range of laid eggs. In addition, experts say that the color of the shell surrounding the fruit is determined by genetic information and will persist throughout the life of the layers.

2. Impact of external conditions can cause pigmentation of the membrane, its change can be caused by the influence stressful situationexperienced by the bird 4-5 hours before laying. In this case, the condition that has arisen through the nervous system affects the mucous areas of the oviduct, which impedes the flow of porphyrins and limits the release of pigment from the region of the gland responsible for the formation of the membrane.
3. Some breeders note that the weakening of the shades of the masonry color may be associated with the use of medicines.

Important! The addition of a preparation containing 5 mg of nicarbazine / day, used in zootveterinary medicine for the treatment of cocidiosis, to the food of birds, causes a change in the color of eggs that is noticeable to the eye. The use of large doses of this substance can lead to a complete loss of pigmentation in masonry elements.

4. The lightening of the shell can be associated withlingering chicken in the sun, as an example, experts cite the weakening of pigmentation observed in the Maran species.
5. A shift in the color gamut towards light tones may be due to an increase in the temperature of the environment and drinking water.

Note! When the air temperature rises from 24 to 30 ° C or when water with a temperature above 50 ° C is supplied to drinkers for chickens, the eggs laid by birds with dark feathers acquire light shades.

6. Among other environmental factors that affect the change in the pigmentation of the shell surrounding the chicken fetus, experts call conditions of air exchange and illumination in the chicken coop.

Important! The intensity of the color range may change under the influence of the transferred by the bird infectious diseases and due to damage to the chicken's body helminths.

7. The color of the final product may be partially influenced by individual physiological processes in the body of the laying hen... If, as a result of factors or operating conditions, the transit time of the egg through the oviduct increases, it is highly likely that the shell will have a darker shade at the exit. This fact is due to the longer exposure to the shell of porphyrin, an enzyme that determines the color of eggs, during their passage through the intrauterine tract.

Note! This fact can be confirmed by the fact that within the same clutch, the first egg hatched from the oviduct has a darker shade of color than the subsequent ones.

8. A darker shade of color gives the shell a coloring agent called protoporphyrincontained in hemoglobin and vitamins.

As for the strength of the shell, it is not the color of the product that has a decisive effect on it, but the age of the laying hen, feed and the presence of additives in the chicken diet, the phase of the laying cycle, the season of the year. So, young chickens have eggs with a stronger shell, the hardness of the shell increases in the presence of adequate nutrition, at the beginning of the laying cycle the shell has a greater thickness. On the other hand, the decrease in strength can be influenced by vitamin deficiency that occurs with an unbalanced diet and in the spring period of the year.

Video: what is the difference between white and brown chicken eggs

What determines the color of the yolk of a chicken egg

The yellow substance of the egg is slightly more than 1/3 of the total volume of the egg and can have a shade from a weakly colored yellow to a rich gold and even orange tone.

What determines the color of the yolk in a chicken egg?

Among the factors affecting the saturation of the color range of the yolk of a chicken egg, experts call:

• Consumption by hens of large quantities rich color feed, as a result of which the pigments of the carotenoid group contained in them also affect the shade of the forming yellow substance of the egg. Among the substances with coloring properties that affect the saturation of the yolk color, experts call xanthophyll and lutein.
• It is possible to ensure the delivery of these substances to the chicken's body by including in its diet herbal flour and corn varietieshaving a corresponding saturated shade. Possessing the properties of antioxidants, these pigment substances improve the condition of the musculoskeletal system of the bird and take part in the synthesis of vitamin A.
• In a household environment, the properties of carotenoids can be performed fatty foods... So, a brighter shade of yolk in chickens can be obtained by including kitchen waste containing a large amount of fat in their diet, adding milk whey and a mixture to food, diluted with herbs.

Note! In the case of predominance of light varieties in alfalfa and corn, a weak color range is also transferred to the yellow substance.

Video: what affects the color of egg yolk

Scientists claim that the shade of the yolk color does not affect the nutritional value of the product. According to their data, it is the yellow substance of the egg that has the highest protein concentration, and this property of the product and its ratio in relation to the protein mass is maintained regardless of the saturation of pigmentation. In conclusion, it should be said that scientists have not found a relationship between the color of an egg and its taste characteristics. The taste of the yellow substance of the fruit does not depend on the color of the shell or the color of the yolk, but on the nutrition. Experts say that with the same feeding, products produced by layers with colored feathers will have the same taste characteristics.

Video: why chicken eggs are different colors