Our “Building Your Flock” blog series is designed to help you pick your perfect breeds as you peruse our catalog and scroll the website. It’s no secret that everyone loves a beautiful rainbow egg basket, and we’re here to please! Below is a comprehensive list of the layers you need to chase that perfect rainbow.
Blue and Green Layers
Our blue and green layer lineup is hard to beat! Ameraucanas are arguably the most popular blue layers in the U.S., and with good reason. These fun, quirky birds thrive in a wide variety of conditions. From backyards to commercial egg operations, you can’t beat an Ameraucana’s beautiful blue egg.
Our Crested Cream Legbars are a unique auto-sexing breed, meaning that chicks will be distinguishable by sex at hatch. Because they’re a true breed, their auto-sexing trait will pass on to subsequent pure generations. Best of all, these hens boast a stunning and consistent blue egg for your basket.
Both the Butter Blue and Whiting True Blue were developed exclusively for McMurray Hatchery by Dr. Tom Whiting. Though they both produce gorgeous, uniform blue eggs, these are two unique breeds. The Butter Blue is new to us this year, and one you won’t want to miss out on!
Though they might be our only green layer, Whiting True Greens are a real powerhouse breed! These hens can outproduce some of our best layers, giving gorgeous green eggs to offset other colors.
Pictured here is a mix of eggs, including Ameraucana and Whiting True Green.
Deep Brown Layers
French Black Copper Marans are the most famous dark chocolate egg layers, and with good reason! These hens have been selectively bred for generations to give you that perfect chocolate brown egg. However, the Cuckoo Marans is another dark brown layer that shouldn’t be forgotten. With their clean legs, these hens are a hardy breed that thrives in cold weather.
New to McMurray Hatchery, the Penedesenca is another auto-sexing breed, known for their ability to thrive in hotter climates. These hens lay lovely deep brown eggs, with a color often compared to matte terracotta.
Though Welsummers don’t lay a deep, dark chocolate egg like the Marans, they offer distinctive visual texture and speckling on their gorgeous brown eggs. They’re here to remind us that variety is, indeed, the spice of life!
A gorgeous Black Copper Marans egg is shown front and center.
Tinted and Neutral Layers
Though blues, greens, and deep browns are what we all think of when crafting a flock of rainbow layers, don’t forget to add some tinted and neutral layers to your lineup to really help make your show-stopper colors pop. Red Stars offer a lovely uniform brown egg, while Pearl White Leghorns bring a stunning and consistent white egg to the basket. Best of all, both of these breeds are two of our top layers, so they’re bringing both production and variety to the mix.
Salmon Faverolles are a calm, gentle breed with a truly lovable personality. These hens are exceptionally well-suited to families with young children. They’re also good winter layers, producing cream-colored eggs that will add depth to your neutrals. Silver Gray Dorking hens also lay a lovely cream egg, despite having red earlobes. They’re a fun, unique breed with a rich history.
Here, you can see how the whites, basic browns, and cream colored eggs make the darker browns, greens, and blues pop in the carton.
Flair Layers
Chickens are the backbone of most flocks, but other types of poultry can offer variety, speckling, and color when crafting your rainbow basket. Heritage turkey hens lay creamy, pinkish eggs with beautiful speckling. And if speckling is what you’re after, our Coturnix Quail have that in spades! These hens are ready to lay by 8 weeks of age, and their tiny eggs bring a fun, unique contrast to any egg basket. In fact, our Celadon lines lay miniature blue eggs that are favored by breeders and hobbyists across the country.
If you’re looking to add some depth, Cayuga ducks lay eggs in varying shades of cream, light blue, and charcoal. Both Duclairs and Runners are also known to lay cream or tinted eggs, with Duclairs leaning more towards shades of green and Runners often leaning light blue.
Pictured here is a turkey egg with gorgeous muted-pink speckling and creamy undertones.
Whether you have been selling eggs to loyal customers for years or you are just getting started with setting up your egg stand, we have all of the supplies you need to keep your customers coming back for more. From our recycled plastic egg cartons to our egg stamps, let us help you up your marketing game and wow your customers every time they pick up a carton of eggs.
Don’t forget that McMurray customers also get a free egg vendor listing on our Marketplace! Sign up today if you are hoping to connect with your local community by selling your beautiful eggs.