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by patchie on January 7th, 2008

patchie

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Why do hens lay eggs

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  • by Anonymous on January 8th, 2008

    Anonymous

    How often varies by the breed of the chicken, the type of feed, and other conditions such as weather and whether the bird is molting or not. The shell of the egg acts as a mammals uterus would, protecting the the contents(baby chick or scrammbled eggs) and housing nutrients. This is the chickens way of having large numbers of chicks at one time, as eggs that are fertilized do not begin gestation until the proper temperature is maintained on a regular basis. Chickens will lay eggs over the period of several weeks before sitting on them to produce the correct thermo-environment. Not all eggs are fertilized because just like humans, a sperm donor is needed. A chicken may "be with" a rooster only once, yet produce fertilized eggs for several days. Molting is a period when the chicken is going through physical changes, during this time no eggs are produced. A sign of molting is loss of feathers and bad mood swings! Molting occurs about once a year in mature birds. Sometimes eggs used for human consumption are fertilized unintentionally. These eggs have a red dot in the white of the egg. This is the reason most cooks crack eggs into a separate bowl before adding them to their recipes. The red dot would have turn into a chick had the egg not been cooled by refridgeration. sometimes eggs are not produced because the diet is lacking certain nutrients, usually feeding the chickens the used egg shells from the kitchen will help to cure this deficiency and the bird will begin to produce eggs. Chickens are an inexpencive yet interesting animal that can be lots of fun raising with children. Also, their are minature chickens and chickens that have different colored eggs known as easter egg chickens(anaconas, i think) Its been a while since i raised chickens but it was quite an experience, hope this helps!

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