surely the ones in cages dont get seen to by the cockrel regular
2006-09-15 09:18:45 · 23 answers · asked by Ross F 1 in Pets ➔ Birds
Why do women have periods (lay eggs in essence) without 'breeding'?
Same issue. ;)
2006-09-15 09:20:53 · answer #1 · answered by PollyPocket 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
It's actually a hormonal thing.. chickens or any bird for that matter, will lay eggs if a male is present - even if it's in the next cage. The eggs just are fertilized.
2006-09-15 12:36:47 · answer #2 · answered by tampico 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The chicken normally responds to light -- the trigger for egg laying is increasing light. Commercial growers fool her by keeping a continuous even lighting. We also take away her eggs so she never has a "clutch" to set on. So she keeps trying. Also she is able to store sperm for a relatively long time. Thus, in the wild she would lay 6-10 eggs a year and quit.
2006-09-15 09:22:52 · answer #3 · answered by DanE 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chickens and ducks will lay eggs no matter what. (My Pekin hen lays 1 unfertilized egg every morning that can be eaten) Some lay 300 or more per year. The egg production is "activated" by the # of hours of sunlight a day
If a mate is available and they mate, then they are fertile eggs that you don't eat, they can hatch.
2006-09-15 15:47:30 · answer #4 · answered by Lady Athena 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The same way humans do. The body produces the egg and if it is fertilized it will become what it is supposed to, and if not then it will be discarded. The natural function IS to lay eggs. The fertilization only changes the viability.
2006-09-16 04:56:47 · answer #5 · answered by diane_b_33594 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They just do. When the hen is fed laying mash, eggs develop and must be laid. All an egg is, is food for the chick that would be developing if the egg was fertile. When there's no rooster, she has to lay the egg - the chick food - anyway. It's just not fertilized.
Then it's omelettes, or, as I prefer, sunny side up. ;-)
2006-09-15 09:24:33 · answer #6 · answered by Nightlight 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
kind of like asking "how can a woman ovulate without intercourse"
it's just a natural function.
if the chicken "breeds" though, the egg will become fertilized and instead of just an egg, a chick will start growing in the egg instead
2006-09-15 09:32:46 · answer #7 · answered by Dan A 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ovulation occurs regardless of the presents of a male. Breeding, results in fertile eggs, and then into chicks.
2006-09-17 05:37:03 · answer #8 · answered by cantrellpets 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they have natural need to breed, can lay eggs without cockrel, just can't hatch chicks. is just natural thing as old as time...
2006-09-15 13:51:43 · answer #9 · answered by Cheryl F 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, the chickens eggs that have not been breed just don't contain an embryo (a baby chick). The egg is just the nutrients that would be food to the chick if there was one there.
2006-09-15 09:22:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I lay eggs every month, so to speak, and I am not a chicken.
Read a book.
2006-09-15 09:20:59 · answer #11 · answered by MoMattTexas 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋