Most chicken breeds lay brown or white eggs, but there are several kinds of chickens that lay blue eggs. 

And ever since Martha Stewart appeared on television several years ago holding a basket of blue eggs laid by her chickens, the demand for the blue egg laying breeds has skyrocketed.

So What Breeds of Chickens Lay Blue Eggs?

There are four predominant breeds of chickens that lay blue eggs: 

• the Ameraucana

• the Araucana

• the Cream Legbar

• the Easter Egger

There are also several other not-so-common breeds that lay blue or green eggs including the mixed breed Ice Cream Bar, which is half Swedish Isbar half Cream Legbar, and the Olive Egger, which is half Ameraucana and half Marans.

But for the purpose of this article, I'm going to be talking about the four most common breeds of chickens that lay blue eggs.

So if you want to add some blue eggs to your basket, you'll want to keep reading.  If you order some of these chicks in the spring, you'll have blue eggs in your basket come fall!

The four breeds of blue-egg laying chickens are very different. Here are the basic differences between the blue egg laying breeds of chickens and how you can tell them apart.

The Four Breeds of Chickens that Lay Blue Eggs

Ameraucana

Ameraucanas are a pure breed of chicken that has been recognized by the APA (American Poultry Association) since 1984.

They were most likely originally bred from South American blue egg laying breeds, but were developed and standardized in the United States.

Ameraucanas come in eight distinct colors including Blue, Black, Lavender, White and Wheaten, but they all share these distinctive traits:

• Pea comb

• Muffs and beard

• Red earlobes

• Tail

• Slate gray or blue legs

• White foot bottoms

• Always lay blue eggs

Araucana

Araucana chickens are more rare than Ameraucanas and can be hard to find and are notoriously hard to hatch.

They're really cute though - their main distinctive feature is that they have no tails! 

But they do have prominent ear tufts like the Ameraucana. They are also a pure breed and have been recognized by the APA since 1976.

The Araucana originated in Chile, most likely, and comes in five colors including black, white, duckwing silver and golden. They are the breed that the Ameraucana was developed from. 

Araucanas all share these distinctive traits:

• Pea comb

• Ear tufts (this gene is lethal to developing chicks if inherited by both parents)

• Red earlobes

• Rump-less (no tail)

• Green or willow-colored legs

• Yellow foot bottoms

• Always lay blue eggs

Next up is another fairly rare breed that is becoming more popular as the years go by and blue eggs continue to rise in popularity.

Cream Legbar

Cream Legbar chickens have recently become available here in the United States. They are an English breed that was creating by crossing Leghorns with Plymouth Rocks and Araucanas. 

While they are not recognized by the APA, they have been a breed recognized by the Poultry Club of Great Britain since 1958.

Cream Legbars are unique in that they are an auto-sexing breed, meaning that the male and female chicks look different when they hatch so they can easily be identified by sex.

Cream Legbars all share these distinctive traits:

• Spiky crest on top of the head

• Silvery-gray feathers

• Salmon-colored breast feathers

• Yellow legs

• No feathers on legs

• Always lay blue eggs

Next up is the one breed that won't guarantee you blue eggs, but they're still a fun breed to add to your backyard! 

Easter Eggers are not a breed recognized by the APA. They are considered a cross breed, not purebred.

They are technically mutts - mixed breed chickens that do possess the blue egg gene, but don't fully meet the breed specifications of either Araucanas or Ameraucanas.

Easter Eggers can come in any color or combination of colors and share these traits:

• Any kind of comb

• Muffs/beard/ear tufts or none

• Any color earlobes

• Tail or tail-less

• Any color legs

• Any color foot bottoms

• Can lay blue but also sometimes lay green, tan, pink or even yellow

Easter Eggers are fun because you never know what color egg each hen will lay until she starts laying, and even identical-looking hens often lay varying shades of bluish or greenish eggs. 

Once an Easter Egger hen starts laying, she will lay the same color egg for life, but not always blue. Some Easter Eggers lay pinkish or tan eggs instead. Hence, the name "Easter" Eggers.

So to guarantee that you'll get blue eggs, you'll need to choose either Ameraucana, Araucana or Cream Legbar chickens.