If you’ve ever opened a carton of Happy Egg Heritage Eggs, what’s the first thing you noticed? Maybe first you took note of the blue egg carton and our (in our not-so humble opinion) extraordinary brand design.  
 
But once you actually opened the carton, you probably noticed that these weren’t your average eggs; shells varying shades of mahogany, and blues ranging in tone from Tiffany’s-blue to seafoam green—and even sometimes pink—making for a truly Happy surprise.  

So, how did they get that way? What makes Heritage eggs brown and blue? No, we don’t dye them like Easter eggs or paint on their color on like makeup. (Yes, these are real questions we’ve been asked...) 
 
The truth? It’s all about the genes.  

Our brown and blue Heritage Eggs come from two distinct (and distinctly beautiful!) breeds of birds; the Speckled Legbar Hens, who lay the various shades of blue eggs, and the Copper Maran Hens, who lay the brown. In short, the breed and health of the hen dictates what color eggshells she produces.  

In fact, all eggs start out white and, as they move through the hen’s oviduct, pigments are deposited onto the shell that then produce the varying shell shades you see in your egg carton. This is also why—like snowflakes and people—no two eggs look identical to one another. Depending on each bird’s individual genetic makeup, eggs across the same breed and even two eggs laid by the same bird will typically vary in shade and speckles.  

So, the next time you open up your carton of Heritage Happy Eggs, take note of each egg’s unique traits—and then use this newfound knowledge as your next impressive icebreaker.