Any good ideas for a dual purpose chicken that lays white eggs? My wife prefers to use white eggs but doesn't that virtually rule out using a dual purpose breed?

Suggestions are appreciated.

-- Kent (khawkins@sfasu.edu), October 17, 2001

Answers

Kent, Our light brahamas lay lightly tinted eggs (almost white but not like a leghorn). They are big docile birds, very pretty, and good eating. I looked in Murray Mcmurray and they claim these are brown egg layers, but like I said ours have always had light eggs. A really good web page is the murray mcmurray page, where they detail each bird.

www.mcmurrayhatchery.com

Personally, we always thought the brown eggs were prettier! My favourite is having a variety of colored eggs in the box, brown, white, green, etc!

-- kim (fleece@eritter.net), October 17, 2001.

We have a houdan hen who lays white eggs and is nice and fat and apparently the males make good meat birds. They look a little silly (they have topknots, like polish chickens). They are black with mottled white spots and both males and females have a fifth toe. Our houdan, "Poe", is the tamest of our hens (I once tied a string to her leg and had "chicken on a leash" in the garden). Check them out on the mcmurray website.

-- Elizabeth (lividia66@aol.com), October 17, 2001.

We have a group of five California Whites that lay large white eggs. They are pretty meaty. Nice docile birds, but that may be because the rooster has gone to the big stew pot in the sky. He was an Americana, and a nasty one. He sure tasted good though.....

Rickstir

-- Rickstir (rpowell@email.ccis.edu), October 17, 2001.

Hi Kent,

There is absolutely no differance in white eggs vs. brown eggs. The nutrition and taste are exactally the same.

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), October 17, 2001.

White Barred Rocks are an excellent dual purpose bird that lay white eggs, they are docile and get nice and plump, if you care to eat the roosters.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), October 17, 2001.

You might check out feathersite.com They have info and pics of every chicken imaginable.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), October 17, 2001.