What came first, the chicken or the egg?
5440
This is actually very easy to answer, based on evolution the egg had to come first. Evolution works like this: There are slight changes in the genetic information of the sex cells (i.e. eggs and sperm) of individuals that are passed on to the offspring of any two parents. These changes in the genetic makeup are called mutations. Mutations can either have: 1) A deleterious effect on the offspring (genetic disorders may arise, many times these are lethal); 2) sometimes these mutations may be advantageous, making an individual more fit than its neighbors (this is sometimes referred to as conferring an advantage); or 3) these mutations can have no effect, making no change from parent to progeny.\n\nIn the case of the chicken, it must have evolved from something else that became less fit than the chicken and eventually becoming extinct. The chicken became a chicken from this other organism through mutations that built up over time in subsequent generations. However, whatever the genetic makeup that finally became defined as a chicken, that individual was first conceived and developed in an egg before being hatched. The egg and sperm that fused to produce the chicken didn't bypass the period of gestation within an egg that had developed in the bird family millions of years before the chicken came along.\n\nSo the simple answer to this question is the egg came first -- unless you believe in fairy tales?
1172282
the hen came first because God made the animal and the animal layed the egg...that'a my theory :)
267261
Which came first - the chicken or chicken egg? \n\n"The chicken" came first - in the sentence of the question. \n\nIf the question is phrased differently, the answer is different.
427214
If you are a creationist, like me, the chicken probably came first.\nIf you believe in evolution, then by that theory the egg would have come first.
160444
The Egg.\n\nDinosaurs came before the chicken, methinks.
418801
I would have to say either "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" or "What is the meaning of life?"
399817
the chicken evolved and laid an egg.
911397
Reptiles were laying shelled eggs for millions of years before some of them evolved into birds - and chickens came even later than that. So, by the time the first chicken laid the first chicken egg, eggs were already ancient. If your question is supposed to pertain only to chicken eggs, then obviously a species and its reproductive cells evolve simultaneously. Neither of them can exist before the other.
580717
this question has been asked many times, not just throughout time but also many times just here on yahoo answers.  i say "egg"... for a thorough explanation you can look up my answers.\n\ni just find it very interesting that when asked in the "pets" forum, most people say something religious to support their claim that chickens came first, and on the "science" forum, more people say "egg" and support their claim with "science has proved...."\n\nmeh, science never really proves anything... but this one just requires a little thought about the true nature of the question.  it would be a little more difficult to answer if it was "which came first, the chicken or the chicken egg?"  but no one ever asks that question, so we're all safe.  whew.  :)
694977
Apparently the chicken came first.  Then the eggs.  According to Genesis anyway.
507372
If you believe in the Bible, the chicken came first. "And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven'." Genesis 1:19-20. Chickens are a type of fowl, so the Christian Bible says that chickens came first. \n\nIf you have a different religion, you might have a different belief about the how the treasures of the earth came to be. In the science of evolution, both chickens and eggs came before man. Since both the birds and the eggs were on earth first, historians weren't around to record which came first. \n\nWhichever answer you gave, it's okay. A chicken can't be born without a chicken egg and a chicken egg can't be laid without a chicken. Both chickens and eggs are important!
57779
actually, the egg came first. if the egg didn't come,then u would have no chicken.but that's what i think.
41478
Which came first - the chicken or the egg? \n\n"The chicken" came first - in the sentence of the question. If the question is phrased differently, the answer is different.\n\n!
366427
The egg came first, because before there were any chickens at all, there was the species that mutated/evolved into the chicken (some sort of dinosaur, no doubt). That species was invariably an egg laying creature, and therefore, there were eggs long before there were chickens.
107389
All living things are created by God (or whatever higher power you believe in) so the chicken had to come first.  The egg is not alive yet.
219004
In my opinon.. the first chicken egg pre-dated the first chicken.\n\nAt one point there was a creature that was only one mutation away from being it chicken - it was ALMOST a chicken.  It mutated and then laid an egg that expressed the mutation by hatching into the worlds first full fledged chicken.\n\nThis question can be argued so many ways...  of course, if you don't accept the theory of evolution, my arguement is meaningless.
82718
The egg came first. Creatures evolved. There was once a chicken-dinosaur like creature, or maybe something like that, maybe not dinosaur, but whether it was from dinosaurs, or avians, or both, I can't remember... But there was something before the chicken, it had an egg, but there was a genetic mutation in the genes of the baby chick due to adaptation or just accident. Anyways, when the mutated chick hatched from the egg, the chicken as we know it came about.