Which Chickens Lay Brown Eggs?

Chickens that lay brown eggs include most of the classic backyard breeds, like Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, and Brahmas. They’re hardy, friendly birds, and their eggs range from pale tan to a deep brown.

For the first 8 to 10 years of keeping chickens, Barred Rocks were what we raised. They’re steady, dependable, and hardy, and they filled our basket with brown eggs year after year.

Brown egg breeds are the classic backyard chickens. Many of them are dual-purpose birds, kept for both eggs and meat, and plenty of them are calm enough for a family with kids.

A brown egg is a white shell with a brown coating, and the shade depends on the breed and the hen. Some breeds lay a light tan egg that can look pink, and a few lay dark brown eggs so dark they look like chocolate.

If you’re building a colorful flock, my guide to chicken egg colors covers every shade. For the other side of the carton, there’s a list of chickens that lay white eggs, and my list of dual-purpose chicken breeds overlaps a lot with this one.

How Brown Eggs Get Their Color

A brown eggshell starts out white. The shell is calcium carbonate, and the hen builds it over about 20 hours in the shell gland, near the end of the oviduct.

The brown comes from a pigment called protoporphyrin, which the shell gland makes. Most of it goes onto the egg in the last few hours. It ends up concentrated in the outer shell and the cuticle, the thin coating that goes on just before the hen lays the egg.

That’s why a brown egg looks pale on the inside when you crack it. The pointed end of an egg usually carries a little less pigment than the round end, too.

Why Brown Eggs Vary in Shade

Breed sets the basic color, but each hen’s shade is a little different, and it changes over the year. Eggs are usually darkest at the start of a laying cycle and get lighter as the season goes on.

Hens also lay lighter eggs as they get older. They put down about the same amount of pigment as their eggs get bigger, so the color gets spread thinner.

• Stress: Crowding, rough handling, or a scare can interrupt the cuticle and leave a pale, chalky egg.
• Illness: Infectious bronchitis and Newcastle disease cause pale, thin shells.
• Medications: Some drugs, including sulfa drugs and the coccidiosis drug nicarbazin, lighten brown eggs quickly.

A rest or a molt usually brings the color back. My guide to chicken egg deformities covers the other odd eggs a flock lays now and then.

Are Brown Eggs Better Than White Eggs?

No. The USDA says the nutrients in brown and white eggs aren’t significantly different. A brown egg and a white egg taste the same, too, if the hens ate the same feed.

Brown eggs usually cost more at the store because the hens that lay them are bigger and eat more. Feed is about three quarters of the cost of producing eggs, according to the University of Florida.

There is one real difference. Blood spots are more common in brown eggs, and they’re harder to catch when graders candle brown eggs. So you’ll find one now and then in a brown egg from the store or from your own hens.

Chickens That Lay Brown Eggs

Most of the breeds here come from the United States and England, and a few came from China, Australia, and Germany. They range from small, busy layers to some of the biggest chickens there are.

Egg counts vary a lot between lines and hatcheries, so treat the numbers as a range. The weights are for hens.

Rhode Island Red

Rhode Island Reds came out of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the 1880s and 1890s, and the Rhode Island Red is Rhode Island’s state bird. Hens weigh about 6 1/2 pounds and lay large brown eggs, about 200 to 300 a year.

Since the 1940s, breeders have selected production strains for eggs, so hatchery Reds are smaller and lighter colored than the old heritage type. Heritage Reds are bigger, darker birds that lay fewer eggs.

Reds are calm hens, though some roosters can be aggressive. They handle cold well, and they do fine in the heat, too.

They’re a common pick for beginners, and they show up on my list of egg laying chickens for beginners.

New Hampshire

Breeders in New Hampshire and Massachusetts selected New Hampshires from Rhode Island Reds, and the American Poultry Association recognized them in 1935. They’re the official state poultry of New Hampshire.

Hens weigh about 6 1/2 pounds and lay about 200 to 220 large, tinted to brown eggs a year. Temperament varies from docile to aggressive, and they do well in both cold and warm climates.

Black Sex Links

Black Sex Links are a cross, a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster over Barred Rock hens. The cross only works that way around, and the payoff is that you can tell the pullets from the cockerels by color the day they hatch.

Hens lay about 200 to 280 medium to large brown eggs a year, and they rarely go broody. Hatcheries rate them excellent in the cold.

They’re mostly black, often with some red on the chest, and they’re productive, practical layers.

Like all sex links, they’re hybrids, so they won’t breed true if you hatch their eggs.

Red Sex Links and Golden Comets

Red sex links are usually a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire rooster over White Rock, Silver Laced Wyandotte, or Delaware hens. Hatcheries sell them under a lot of names, including Golden Comet, Red Star, and Cinnamon Queen, and the exact cross varies.

These are the brown egg version of a production layer. Hatcheries estimate around 250 to 320 large brown eggs a year. Commercial brown egg farms use similar hybrids, bred for high production.

Bielefelder

Bielefelders are a German breed, developed by Gerd Roth in the 1970s. Their eggs are large and light brown, often with pink undertones and a few speckles, about 200 to 230 a year.

They’re autosexing, so you can sex the chicks by color at hatch. They’re also very friendly birds, and ours were so friendly that my kids picked up and snuggled the roosters.

That friendliness made them not particularly predator aware, though, and they weren’t good flock guardians. My Bielefelder breed guide covers what they’re really like.

Bielefelders lay a lighter egg than a lot of lists say, so if you want truly dark eggs, look at Marans or Welsummers instead.

Barred Rock

Barred Rocks are the original variety of the Plymouth Rock, first shown in Boston in 1849, and one of the first breeds in the American Poultry Association standard, in 1874. Hens weigh about 7 1/2 pounds and lay about 200 large brown eggs a year.

The Livestock Conservancy says some hens keep laying into their tenth year. They’re calm, cold hardy, good sitters, and easy to handle. My Barred Rock breed guide has the rest.

Wyandotte

Four poultrymen in New York, Michigan, and Massachusetts developed Wyandottes in the 1870s, and the American Poultry Association recognized them in 1883. Their name comes from a Native American tribe of upstate New York and Ontario.

Hens weigh about 6 1/2 pounds and lay large, light to medium brown eggs, about 220 to 280 a year by hatchery estimates. The rose comb sits close to the head and resists frostbite, which makes them a good choice up north.

The laced varieties get the most attention, but the American Poultry Association recognizes nine large fowl varieties, including solid White, Black, and Buff. They’re calm, friendly birds.

They’re also on my list of cold hardy chicken breeds.

Australorp

Australian breeders developed Australorps from Black Orpingtons and named them in the 1920s. In 1922 and 1923, a pen of six Australorp hens averaged over 309 eggs each in a year, which made the breed famous.

Hens weigh about 6 1/2 pounds and lay 250 or more eggs a year, tinted to light brown. Their black feathers soak up the sun, so give them shade in hot weather.

Brahma

American breeders developed Brahmas from big chickens that came in through Shanghai in the 1840s. Light Brahma hens weigh about 9 1/2 pounds, and they lay large, medium brown eggs, up to about 200 a year.

Their real strength is winter laying. The Livestock Conservancy calls them a superior winter layer, laying mostly from October to May, when many breeds slow down.

Brahmas are calm and extremely cold hardy, but they don’t handle heat well. Their feathered feet can pick up mud, which raises the risk of frostbitten toes, so keep their run dry.

My Brahma breed guide covers their care, and they’re on my list of chickens with feathered feet.

Cochin

Cochins came from China and joined the American Poultry Association standard in 1874. Hens weigh about 8 1/2 pounds and lay large brown eggs, though not as many as most breeds on this list.

They’re extremely docile, and the Livestock Conservancy says that as a broody hen, they have no equal. They’re very cold hardy but suffer in the heat. My Cochin breed guide has more.

Orpington

William Cook developed Orpingtons in Orpington, Kent, and first showed them in 1886. Hens weigh about 8 pounds and lay large light to dark brown eggs, and some of ours laid a pretty, light pink egg.

Orpingtons are incredibly friendly, and I think they’re some of the prettiest chickens. They’re so docile that they’re great with kids, and they go broody often.

They handle cold winters well, and with shade and water, they manage warm weather too. Buff is the most familiar color, but they also come in black, blue, white, and lavender.

My Orpington breed guide covers the colors and care, and they’re on my list of fluffy chicken breeds.

Sussex

Sussex chickens come from southeast England, and the Speckled, Red, and Light varieties are all in the American Poultry Association standard. Hens weigh about 7 pounds and lay about 200 to 250 large, tan to brown eggs a year.

They’re calm, curious birds that go broody and do well in winter, but they aren’t fond of the heat.

Jersey Giant

John and Thomas Black developed Jersey Giants in Burlington County, New Jersey, in the late 1800s. They’re the largest chicken breed developed in America. The standard calls for hens of 10 pounds and roosters of 13.

Hens lay about 150 to 200 extra large eggs a year, from light cream to dark brown, but they take 8 months to a year to start laying. They’re very cold hardy and don’t handle heat well.

They’re calm, docile birds, and many of them enjoy a cuddle. Their size has one drawback, since a heavy hen can crush eggs while she’s sitting on them.

My Jersey Giant breed guide covers the breed in detail.

Delaware

George Ellis developed Delawares in Delaware in the 1940s, from a Barred Rock and New Hampshire cross. Hens lay up to about 200 large to jumbo light brown eggs a year.

They’re mostly white, with black barring on the neck and tail, and the Livestock Conservancy includes them on its heritage breeds list.

Buckeye

Nettie Metcalf developed Buckeyes in Warren, Ohio, and they’re the only breed in the American class developed by a woman. They joined the American Poultry Association standard in 1905.

Hens weigh about 6 1/2 pounds and lay about 175 to 240 brown eggs a year in modern lines. With their small pea combs, they’re very cold hardy, and they adapt to heat too.

Dominique

Dominiques have been in America since at least the 1750s, and the Livestock Conservancy calls them America’s first and oldest chicken breed. They look a lot like Barred Rocks but have a rose comb instead of a single comb.

Hens weigh about 5 pounds and lay about 230 to 275 medium, light to dark brown eggs a year. The rose comb resists frostbite, and they handle hot, humid weather well.

Breeds That Lay Darker Brown Eggs

A few breeds lay a brown egg dark enough to stand out in this crowd. Marans lay the darkest, a deep reddish chocolate, and Welsummers lay a dark terracotta egg with speckles.

My list of chickens that lay dark brown eggs covers those breeds, plus how to keep the color dark. For a full rundown of breeds, my list of chicken breeds from A to Z has the rest.

Brown Egg Chicken FAQs

Here are quick answers to the questions people ask most about brown eggs.

More Egg Color Guides

More ways to fill your basket with color.

Which Chickens Lay Dark Brown Eggs? (Chocolate Eggers)

Which Chickens Lay White Eggs?

Chicken Egg Colors: Which Breeds Lay Which Color?

Raising Chickens

More ideas for raising a healthy backyard flock.

How to Make Eggshell Powder (& 10+ Ways to Use It)

Ameraucana Chicken Breed Guide

Orpington Chicken Breed Guide