PHYSIOLOGY, ENDOCRINOLOGY, AND REPRODUCTION
Changes in Brown Eggshell Color As the Hen Ages
A. Z. Odabasi,* R. D. Miles,1 M. O. Balaban,*2 and K. M. Portier3
*Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-0370;
Department of Animal Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-0910;
and Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-0339
ABSTRACT The color of eggshells from eggs laid by
commercial-type Hy-Line brown hens 25 wk of age was
studied over a period of 10 mo. Color measurements
were made by a color machine vision system and were
analyzed using a mixed model to calculate between and
within hen variances and to investigate the effect of time
on shell color. Hens laid eggs with lighter colored shells
as the flock aged, as evidenced by the lightness (L*) values
increasing in time. A decrease in pigmentation was associ-
ated with a decrease in the amount of redness (a*) in the
eggshell. When L* and a* values were corrected for egg
weight, the rate of change in the L* and a* values de-
Key words: hen age, eggshell color, brown egg layer, sample size
INTRODUCTION
Although shell color is not an indication of internal
quality of eggs, consumers in some markets throughout
the world prefer brown eggs over white eggs (United
Kingdom, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Southeast Asia, Aus-
tralia, and New Zealand). Shell color intensity within
each country is dictated by consumer preference. For
example, in the Japanese egg market there are standards
for a uniform dark shell color, whereas other markets
prize a uniform light brown tint to the shell that requires
crossing of white and brown egg laying lines (Arthur
and OSullivan, 2005). When selecting egg-laying lines
with specific dark and light brown shell tints for such
markets, capability of objective color measurement be-
comes critical, especially as the flock ages and eggshell
pigmentation declines. For this purpose, companies that
produce these genetic lines of birds commonly use a
colorimeter that measures the eggs lightness (L*) and
hue [as a function of a red-green (a*) and a yellow-blue
2007 Poultry Science Association Inc.
Received July 17, 2006.
Accepted September 28, 2006.
1
Corresponding author: rdmiles@ufl.edu
2
The Color Expert software was developed by author M. O. Balaban,
who can be contacted about the color machine vision system at
mob@ufl.edu
3
Current address: Statistics & Evaluation Center, American Cancer
Society, Atlanta, GA 30329-4251.
356
creased, indicating that size of the egg was a major factor
affecting the color of the eggshell. These findings quanti-
fied the observations that older hens lay lighter colored
eggs due to an increase in egg size associated with no
proportionate change in the quantity of pigment depos-
ited over the shell surface. Using a 2-stage sampling anal-
ysis and the variances between and within hens, sample
sizes required to estimate the color of eggshells within
5% of the true mean were calculated. Accordingly, 11
eggs would need to be collected from each of the 51 hens
housed for a study of brown eggshell color using the L*,
a*, and b* (yellowness) coordinates.
2007 Poultry Science 86:356363
(b*) scale; Arthur and OSullivan, 2005]. We recommend
the use of a Color Machine Vision (CMV) system to
measure the color units more accurately. A colorimeter
measures the color of only a small portion of the shells
surface area, whereas with CMV the color of the entire
surface facing the camera is determined. The advanced
CMV systems in use today have numerous advantages
and uses. For example, it has recently been reported
that the CMV system can successfully be used to detect
different dirt stains on brown eggs (Mertens et al., 2005).
As the commercial-type white and brown egg layers
age, the weight of the eggs laid by these hens increases
(Roland et al., 1975; Fletcher et al., 1983; Sell et al., 1987).
Commercial Hy-Line brown hens, for example, com-
mence egg production with eggs weighing approxi-
mately 45 g. Thereafter, egg weight and size increase
sharply within the first 8 wk after the onset of egg pro-
duction. Although the rate of increase in egg weight/
size slows down, eggs keep getting heavier and larger
for another 20 wk. From then on, the egg weight of the
Hy-Line Brown layers levels off at an average of about
66 to 67 g (Hy-Line International, 2005).
A major contribution to the area of research involving
factors influencing eggshell quality was that of Roland
et al. (1975). Prior to their report, the exact relationship
between eggshell calcium content and decline in egg-
shell quality, as related to the age of the hen, was not
understood. These researchers reported that as the hen
aged, the increase in egg weight with no proportionate
 CHANGES IN BROWN EGGSHELL COLOR
increase in shell deposition was the major factor that
explained the age-related decline in shell quality of com-
mercial egg-type laying hens. Later, Roland (1979) ex-
panded the knowledge in this area when he reported
that eggs that had the greater increase in size throughout
the entire laying cycle also had the greater decline in
shell quality. Roland (1979) also reported that shell qual-
ity at the end of the laying cycle was directly related to
shell quality at the beginning of the cycle. Similarly, the
pigments of the brown eggshell are deposited on a larger
surface area as the hen ages. No evidence suggests a
variation in the amount of pigment produced according
to egg size (Solomon, 1997). As a result, the color of
shells on eggs from a given flock turns paler with age
of the flock (Lang and Wells, 1987; Solomon, 1997). In
spite of the economic losses caused by variations in egg-
shell color, the changes in shell color as the hens age
have not been studied quantitatively and reported (Lang
and Wells, 1987).
The objective of this study was to measure and quan-
tify the changes in the shell color of eggs from commer-
cial brown egg-type layers for 10 mo of production.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Hens and Egg Collection
This study was designed to monitor the shell color of
eggs collected periodically from individual hens, during
a 10-mo laying cycle. For this purpose, 240 Hy-Line
brown layers were housed in individual cages. The hens
were 25 wk old at the beginning of the study. A corn/
soybean meal based diet that included the nutrients and
energy recommended by the National Research Council
(1994) was fed during the experimental period. Because
vanadium has been shown to have a negative bleaching
effect on brown eggshells (Sutly et al., 2001; Odabasi et
al., 2006), the diet was analyzed for vanadium and found
to have a concentration of 3.1 ppm (DM basis). Vana-
dium was determined at a commercial laboratory by
inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy following di-
gestion with nitric and sulfuric acids. The dietary con-
centration of vanadium was in the normal range (<5
ppm) for a diet based on corn and soybean meal and a
high quality inorganic phosphate source (Sell et al., 1982;
Eyal and Moran, 1984; R. D. Miles, personal communica-
tion). The hens had ad libitum access to feed and water.
The source of grain, soybean meal, and all other ingredi-
ents was the same throughout the entire experimental
period. Hens were maintained on a lighting program of
15 h-continuous light each day.
When hens were 25 wk of age, 3 eggs were collected
from each hen on 3 consecutive days. The eggs from
hens that did not lay consecutively on these 3 days were
obtained on d 4 or 5. At time of collection, each egg was
marked according to hen, and then all eggs were taken
to the laboratory and weighed. Eggs were refrigerated in
the dark until color analysis. None of the eggs collected
during this entire 10-mo study were stored for more
357
than 1 wk. The 3-d egg collection from each hen was
repeated during the first 5 d of each month from Novem-
ber to September, for 10 mo. Data are not presented for
the second month (December) because no eggs were
collected due to a miscommunication among investiga-
tors. Similarly, mean shell weight data for the first month
(November) are not presented. Once color analysis data
were collected, eggs were broken and their shells cleaned
of adhering albumen and allowed to air dry for 1 wk
and shell weight (+membranes) determined.
Color Analysis
Measurement of Color. Color images of the set of 3
eggs obtained from each hen in a given month were
captured using a color machine vision system, which
consisted of a light box, an analog color video camera,
a frame grabber, and a personal computer (Luzuriaga
et al., 1997).
The rectangular light box was aimed to provide uni-
form and constant lighting conditions for every sample
and was 42.4 cm wide, 61 cm deep, and 68.6 cm high.
The light box was made of 100% clear acrylic safety
glazing sheets that had been painted white (flat white
No. 1502, Krylon, Sherwin Williams Co., Solon, OH)
to reflect light in all directions so that shadows were
minimized. The linear light sources consisted of two 45.7
cm long, 15-W Chroma 50 fluorescent lights (F15T8-C50,
General Electric, Cleveland, OH) aligned parallel to each
other. The bulbs were located at the top of the light box,
and they were separated from the chamber by a 6.35-
mm-thick white translucent Polycast acrylic sheet (No.
2247, Polycast Technology Corp., Stanford, CT). The 51%
light transmission property of this sheet provided dif-
fused light inside the chamber. For more details on the
design of the light box, the readers are referred to Luzuri-
aga (1995).
A charged couple device video camera (Sony SSC-
S20, Sony Corp., Japan) positioned at an equal distance
between the 2 light bulbs captured 24-bit color images
of the eggshell surface. The camera settings (brightness,
contrast, hue, and saturation) were adjusted to have a
match as close as possible between the color of the image
and the color of the eggshell. Through the S-video output
of the camera, analog signals were sent to a color frame
grabber (Matrox Meteor, Matrox, Canada) in the com-
puter. With its accompanying software, the frame grab-
ber digitized the analog signals into 640 480 pixel
images.
The 3 eggs collected from a given hen were positioned
on the bottom surface of the light box, with their blunt
end facing the door of the light box. Each egg was placed
on a circular pad with a hole in the middle and a sticky
back so the eggs would not roll away as the image was
being captured. The pads also positioned the location
of each egg so that all eggs were placed in the exact
location in all images. A color tile was positioned on an
L-shaped wooden stand to minimize specular reflection
off of the tile surface (Figure 1). The location of the tile
358 ODABASI ET AL.

Figure 1. Color Machine Vision System with eggs and color tile. Camera and lens can be seen at top of the light box.

was also kept constant for all images by a mark that
identified the exact position of the wooden stand in the
light box. The described procedure was used each month
to evaluate the color of the shells from the 3 eggs col-
lected from each of the 240 hens.
Using Color Expert software, the color of each individ-
ual egg was calculated from the computer images and
reported as the L*, a*, and b* values of the eggshell
surface facing the camera. The L* value represents
lightness and ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 corresponding
to black and 100 to white. The chromatic attributes, red-
ness-greenness and yellowness-blueness, are measured
by a* and b*, respectively. Positive values of a* represent
the amount of redness of the shell color, whereas nega-
tive values of a* indicate the amount of greenness in the
shell color. Similarly, the yellow and blue components
in any color are represented by positive and negative
values of b*, respectively.
Calibration of Color Data. A 1-point (hitching post)
color calibration was used to correct for possible differ-
ences among the images due to changes in the light
source or changes in the cameras sensitivity (Luzuriaga,
1999). This involved the comparison of the average L*,
a*, and b* values of the color tile saved in each image
file with known L*, a*, and b* values of the tile. The
difference was applied to all of the objects in the image.
The L*, a*, and b* values of the orange tile against which
the color of all eggs was standardized were 61.94, 43.48,
and 50.66, respectively. The calibrated images were
saved for further analysis.
Statistical Analyses
The eggshell color data for each hen were the average
of the color values of 3 eggs obtained from that hen in
a given month. Average L*, a*, and b* values obtained

Table 1. Change in color of eggshells [Lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*)]1, egg weight, and shell
weight during the laying cycle2

Mean egg Mean shell

Month Mean (L*) SE Mean (a*) SE Mean (b*) SE weight (g) SE weight (g) SE
1 (Nov.) 62.0e 0.3 23.0b 0.3 20.2e 0.2 58.83d 0.2
3 (Jan.) 71.5c 0.3 23.8ab 0.3 27.6ab 0.2 65.64c 0.2 6.05cd 0.03
4 (Feb.) 70.2d 0.3 24.7a 0.3 27.6ab 0.2 66.69b 0.2 6.21b 0.03
5 (Mar.) 70.7cd 0.3 24.4a 0.3 27.3bc 0.2 67.60a 0.2 6.30a 0.03
6 (Apr.) 73.1b 0.3 21.0cd 0.3 26.8c 0.2 67.44ab 0.2 6.14bc 0.03
7 (May) 72.9b 0.3 19.3e 0.3 26.2d 0.2 67.40ab 0.2 6.11c 0.03
8 (Jun.) 73.6b 0.3 20.2de 0.3 27.3bc 0.2 67.00ab 0.2 5.98d 0.03
9 (Jul.) 73.2b 0.3 21.4c 0.3 27.9a 0.1 67.05ab 0.2 6.10c 0.03
10 (Aug.) 75.4a 0.3 18.1f 0.3 26.5cd 0.2 66.64b 0.3 5.88e 0.03
Means within a column lacking a common superscript differ (P 0.01).
af
1
A higher L* value means lighter color; a higher a* value means a redder color; a higher b* value means a
more yellow color.
 CHANGES IN BROWN EGGSHELL COLOR
Figure 2. Eggs with color values [lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*)] representative of the mean color values recorded in each month.
from the Color Expert software were used to study the
changes in eggshell color with the age of the hens. A
mixed linear model where time was the fixed effect and
the hen was the random effect was used. The model was
implemented with the mixed procedure (PROC MIXED)
of the SAS System (v.8, SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Mixed
methodology has been suggested to be the most appro-
priate method for analyzing repeated measures data
with valid standard errors and efficient statistical tests
(Littell et al., 1998). The repeated measures data in this
study are color values of the eggs laid by the same hen
over time. Normally, color values obtained from any
2 eggs laid by the same hen are correlated, and this
correlation is higher if the color readings are taken close
to each other in time. Thus, repeated measures data
analyses are appropriate.
The first step in the mixed model methodology is to
model the covariance structure. Different structures (i.e.,
compound symmetry, unstructured, or a combination of
autoregressive structure within hens and random effects
between hens) can be fit to the data, and the one that
provides the best fit as indicated by the goodness of fit
criteria in the PROC MIXED output is the one to be used
in the rest of the analyses. Next, time trends are analyzed
by estimating and comparing means (Littell et al., 1998).
At each step, once a time trend model for the means has
359
been specified, fitting the model involves estimating the
trend model parameters and reestimating the covariance
structure (K. M. Portier, personal communication).
Where required, least square means were computed
and multiple comparisons of the least square means
were carried out with the Bonferroni adjustment to pre-
vent the inflation of the experiment-wise Type I error.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Change in Eggshell Color, Egg Weight,
and Shell Weight Over Time
As the hens aged, the shells of the eggs they laid
became lighter in color. Table 1 shows the average L*,
a*, and b* of the eggshells. There was a marked increase
in the lightness of the shells from the value recorded at
the onset of lay for the young hens (mo 1). The lightness
of the eggs, as indicated by a greater L* value, increased
through the first 5 mo. Between mo 6 and 9, the mean
lightness values were not significantly different from
one another. However, this does not mean the lightness
values had reached a plateau as evidenced by the sig-
nificant increase in the mean lightness value observed
in mo 10. The change in the redness values was in the
opposite direction of the change in lightness. The redness
360 ODABASI ET AL.
Table 2. Pearson correlation coefficients of lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values across months

Month Corr Corr Corr Corr Corr Corr

(n) (Ln,an) (Ln,bn) (an,bn) (Ln,L10) (an,a10) (bn,b10)

1 0.75* 0.14* 0.40* 0.05 0.01 0.07

3 0.90* 0.04 0.26* 0.64* 0.56* 0.55*
4 0.83* 0.26* 0.08 0.64* 0.57* 0.57*
5 0.87* 0.11 0.24* 0.67* 0.60* 0.64*
6 0.81* 0.08 0.46* 0.79* 0.58* 0.60*
7 0.90* 0.09 0.35* 0.84* 0.79* 0.79*
8 0.92* 0.19* 0.41* 0.81* 0.74* 0.69*
9 0.91* 0.05 0.24* 0.83* 0.76* 0.70*
10 0.93* 0.26* 0.48*

*Indicates a significant correlation ( = 0.05) between the color values shown at the heading of the corresponding
column.

values, as indicated by smaller a* values, decreased with
months, and the lightness values showed an increasing
trend over time, indicating an overall decrease in the
pigmentation of the eggs as the hens aged. The redness
value did not reach a plateau and was still decreasing
in mo 10. The changes in the yellowness of the eggs
were less than the changes in lightness and redness of
the shell after mo 1.
To provide a visual image of the change in eggshell
color, Figure 2 was generated. Each egg shown has color
(L*, a*, and b*) values approximately equal to the mean
color (L*, a*, and b*) values obtained in the indicated
month (Table 1). The steep rise in lightness and yel-
lowness from mo 1 (November) to mo 3, the decrease
in redness from mo 5 (March) to mo 6 (April) and from
mo 9 (July) to mo 10 are visible in this figure.
Table 1 also shows the change in egg weight and shell
weight over time. Egg weight increased through the first
5 mo, with the highest egg weight value occurring in
mo 5, then plateaued. The highest value for mean shell
weight occurred in mo 5, and the lowest value occurred
in mo 10. In this study, the increased egg weight and
shell weight in mo 5 and the decreased shell weight in
mo 10 are possibly related to overall average feed intake
(data not shown) being highest in mo 5 and lowest in
mo 10.
Correlation Between Color Components
To determine if a linear relationship existed between
the color components (L*, a*, and b*), Pearson correlation
coefficients were calculated. Table 2 shows the correla-
tions between lightness/redness, lightness/yellowness,
and redness/yellowness of eggshells from eggs collected
during a given month in columns 2-4. For example, col-
umn 2 shows that the lighter the shell color, the less
redness it contains. This negative correlation becomes
stronger as the hens age, from a value of 0.75 in mo 1
to 0.93 in mo 10. As column 3 shows, because there
is no asterisk, the correlation between the lightness/
yellowness of the eggshells was not significant during
mo 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9. The correlation between redness/
yellowness was significant but not as strong as the corre-
lation between redness/lightness (column 4). Column 5
shows the correlation of the lightness of the shells with
the lightness of the shells in a future month (mo 10).
Accordingly, hens laying lighter colored eggs will be
laying lighter colored eggs in the future. Columns 6 and
7 show correlations between present and future values
for redness and yellowness. When the color data from
each month are correlated with those from last month,
it can be observed that beginning with the third month
significant correlations were obtained. There was no cor-

Table 3. Terms and their corresponding values used for the calculation of sample size

Egg Shell
Item L*1 a*1 b*1 weight weight
Equation 1
S12, variance among hens2 17.60 10.32 4.38 14.97 0.13
S22, variance within hens2 10.87 10.58 3.31 6.43 0.09
c1
, ratio of cost of sampling a hen over the cost of sampling an egg 100 100 100 100 100
c2
M, number of eggs that can be obtained from a hen during the study 15 15 15 15 15
Equation 2
r, relative precision 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
x, sample mean3 75.41 18.12 26.50 66.6 5.88
S12, variance among hens2 17.60 10.32 4.38 14.97 0.13
, type 1 error 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
1
L* (lightness), a* (redness), and b* (yellowness).
2
Estimates of these variances were obtained from PROC MIXED (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC).
3
Sample mean was obtained as the intercept term in the solution for fixed time effect in PROC MIXED.
 CHANGES IN BROWN EGGSHELL COLOR
Figure 3. Change in shell color [lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*)] after the correction for the change in egg weight. The power
term (two-thirds or 0.67) is used to convert from a function of volume (egg weight) to a function of surface area.
relation between the first months color values and those
of the last month. One possible explanation for this lack
of correlation is because after the first month egg size
increases far beyond that observed in the first month
and the color is diluted over a larger surface area. Mean
egg weight increased by 6.81 g from mo 1 to 3 (58.53 vs.
65.64 g, respectively); from mo 3 to 10, the change in
mean egg weight only ranged from 1 to 1.96 g.
Overall, the significant correlations in Table 2 indicate
that hens that lay eggs with a lighter color in the early
part of the laying cycle will also lay lighter colored eggs
later in the cycle. These lighter colored eggshells (higher
L*) will have less redness (a*).
Eggshell Color Corrected for Egg Weight
Just as Roland (1979) concluded that the decline in
eggshell quality with age of the hen is a result of an
increase in egg size without a proportionate increase in
calcium carbonate deposition in the eggshell, the data
collected in the present study provide evidence that the
change in the eggshell color as the laying hen ages is
also attributed to an increase in egg size without an
accompanying increase in pigmentation. As a result,
more shell surface is covered with a given amount of
the pigment as the hen ages and lays larger eggs. Figure
3 shows the change in color values corrected for egg
size. The power term (two-thirds or 0.67) in the correc-
tion shown in the legend of Figure 3 was used to convert
from a function of volume (egg weight) to a function of
surface area. When regression lines are fitted to the data
points in Figure 3, it was observed that the R2 values
obtained for corrected lightness and corrected redness
were 0.76. The regression line for corrected lightness had
361
a slope of 0.04, indicating that when corrected by egg
weight, lightness increased by only 1% of the initial value
recorded at mo 1. Similarly, the redness of the eggshells
decreased by only 3% of the initial value recorded at
mo 1 when the change in egg weight was taken into
consideration. Looking at this figure, the slopes of the
lines for lightness (L*) and redness (a*) in the eggshell
clearly show the very small change in these values,
which are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude smaller than their
initial value at mo 1. This means that once corrected for
egg weight, very little change in eggshell pigmentation
was observed.
Calculation of Sample Size Required
for Measurement of Eggshell Color
The data collected in this experiment allow for the
calculation of the sample size to be used in similar stud-
ies of eggshell color. In a 2-stage sampling set-up, where
the first stage is the sampling of the hens and the second
stage is the sampling of the eggs, the equations [1] and
[2] can be used to determine the sample size of eggs and
hens, respectively (K. M. Portier, personal communi-
cation).
mopt =
S2
c1
c2
[1]
S21
S22
M
where c1 = the cost for sampling a first-stage unit (hen);
c2 = the cost of sampling a second stage unit (egg) once
362
Table 4. Sample sizes required to estimate the color values [lightness
(L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*)] of eggshells and the weight of the
eggs and the eggshells
Egg
Number of L* a* b* weight
Hens, n0 8 51 13 8 9
Eggs, mopt 8 11 9 7
the first stage unit (hen) has been obtained; S21 and S22 =
the first and second stage population variances; M = the
number of second stage units in each first stage unit;
and mopt = the optimum number of second stage units
measured from each of the first stage units in the sample.
tn2 01,/2S12
no =
r2 x 2
where r = the relative precision; x = the sample mean;
and S21 = the population variation.
Equations 2 and 1 were used to calculate the number
of hens to be used in an experiment and the number of
eggs to be sampled from each hen, respectively. The
numerical values used for each of the terms in these
equations are shown in Table 3. The first and the second
stage variances in equation [1] are the between-hen and
within-hen variances, respectively. These variances were
obtained from the solution of the linear mixed model.
The sample mean is the intercept term in the solution
for the fixed effect of time on color values of the eggshell,
egg weight, or shell weight. The ratio of the cost of
first stage sampling (establishing the hen house, buying
layers, flock management, etc.) to the cost of second
stage sampling (obtaining eggs from already established
layers) was assumed to be 100. For M, which is the
number of eggs that can be obtained from each hen, 15
was used, based on the assumption that each hen would
lay an egg a day in a 15-d study. However, it was ob-
served that the same results are obtained for larger val-
ues of M, even for M. The results of these calculations
are shown in Table 4.
The sample size required to estimate the mean a* of
eggshells within 5% of the true mean turned out to be
the largest when compared with the requirements for
L* and b*. This is because the variability between the
hens relative to the sample mean is the largest for a*.
However, it is not a large sample size compared with
the number of hens housed for research studies. Also,
the sample sizes calculated are only valid for studies
that involve a single strain of brown egg layer because
the presence of hens in a flock from different strains
would increase the variability in the data.
The changes in the shell color of brown eggs obtained
from commercial-type brown egg layers in their first
production year were studied. It was observed that time
had a significant effect on all 3 components of shell color:
L*, a*, and b*. Lightness of the shell color increased as
the flock aged, whereas a* decreased. Changes in the b*
ODABASI ET AL.
component of shell color were not substantial. The shells
of the eggs laid within the first month of the laying cycle
were much darker in color compared with the color of
Shell eggshells obtained later in the cycle. Also, there was a
weight
significant increase in egg weight from mo 1 to 3 and a
continual significant increase in egg weight through mo
9
5. As was expected based on the previous literature, egg
weight plateaued for the remainder of the laying cycle.
The L*, a*, and b* components of brown eggshells
were found to be correlated. The correlation of the a*
with the L* was found to be stronger than the correlation
between the a* and b*. Future studies relating the con-
centration of the specific pigment(s) to the L*, a*, and
b* values of the eggshells are recommended for a better
understanding of the correlation among the color com-
ponents of shells from hens laying brown-shelled eggs.
[2] As discovered by Roland (1979), hens that lay eggs
with good quality shells at the beginning of the laying
cycle will lay eggs with good shell quality later in the
laying cycle. Similarly, in this present study, the correla-
tions of the lightness in the last month with those of
previous months suggested that the hens that lay eggs
with more pigment on the shell (darker) would continue
to lay darker eggs in the future. This, of course, is assum-
ing that the many factors known to negatively affect
eggshell pigmentation throughout the laying cycle are
considered (Lang and Wells, 1987; Butcher and Miles,
1995). However, the linear relationships between the
color components of the last month with those of the
preceding months were not strong enough to enable
good prediction of the color of the eggshells as a flock
of hens aged.
When the color components were corrected by egg
weight for the change in egg size as hens aged, the color
components were found to be practically stable in time.
The data collected in this study indicated that eggshell
pigmentation decreased throughout the first 10 mo of
the laying cycle. The larger eggshell surface area, due
to the increase in egg weight, resulted in lighter colored
eggs. This is similar to what Roland et al. (1975) con-
cluded about the decline in eggshell quality with age of
the hen because a constant amount of eggshell calcium
deposition occurred as the hen aged.
These data collected in this long-term study indicated
that a decline in eggshell pigmentation should be ex-
pected as the laying cycle continues. However, it must
be kept in mind that there are numerous factors that
have a negative bleaching effect on eggshell pigmenta-
tion (Lang and Wells, 1987; Butcher and Miles, 1995).
These factors must be controlled so that the impact on
the normal decline in pigmentation will be minimal.
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