Why do hens lay eggs, how frequent, and why not all fertilized??  my kid wants to know so do I?
914298
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!
558154
My two cluckers came out of eggs.  Did you know that there are two chickens for every human being on earth?  That's a lot of cluckers.\n\n\nChickens rule.
442999
older ones. younger ones lay smaller eggs. (not kidding)
635748
My husband and I just had our 3rd child...another GIRL.  Yes that's right we have 3 daughters.  So, we asked why are we just having girls?  We were told that yes the male is the determiner. O.K. we got that but why all girls and no boys?  We were told it depends on which chromosomes, the X's or Y's are stronger.  Then that one will make it through and be able to fertilize the egg.\n \nI also believe that it's what GOD has planned for you.\n\nHope this helps.
300866
the egg\nthese webistes might help more\nhttp://science.howstuffworks.com/question85.htm\nhttp://www.word-detective.com/howcome/chickenoregg.html\nhttp://www.aeb.org/KidsAndFamily/which_came_first.htm\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_chicken_or_the_egg\nhttp://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/2562
486826
Chickens do not have sex like humans do. The egg is ferlized when the rooster sits on it and deposits the semen on the egg.
464050
There is the answer to satisfy your curiosity. You have to read all of them though;\n\nhttp://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=Ais_0_mi7bIuM8xOSMy8RRYezKIX?p=chicken+or+egg
1182923
Just one. \n\nVery few animals produce more than one offspring per egg.
773217
Yes most chickens lay eggs everyday as long as you continue to keep them healthy and take the eggs away daily, if you leave the eggs they will sit on them and stop laying more eggs. They do not need to have sex to lay eggs, but they need to have sex to lay fertilised eggs that will turn into chicks. If a hen(must be a breed that goes "broody" laying hens dont usually sit thier eggs) mates with a rooster, lays fertilised eggs which are then left in the nest and incubated... then yes they will hatch into chicks.
324085
God created the hen first in the days of Adam..............\nThen the hen laid the egg.
296896
It's a way of explaining the process of reproduction to a child - bees distribute the pollen from flower to flower and they make baby flowers. Birds lay eggs, and a while later out pops a baby chick. It's something you can show to a child without needing to go into other details. Also, it takes away all the fun, because as a parent you don't want you child to be the one demonstrating their 'bees' to 'birds', if you get my drift.\n\nI think it's effective - for instance, if it were all about the dogs and the horses, I would assume it would only result in further questions..
100191
Eggs don't brake, they break.  \n\nMake sure it drops onto some soft foam.  Then it won't break.
183674
Biblically it would be the chicken as created by God, then it layed eggs...  If you  dont believe in God...  Well... your guess is as good as mine.
209788
Yes. You are born with all the eggs you can possibly need during your fertile years. They are  held in a sort of 'suspended animation' in the ovaries, until one is released each month. Then, the one either meets up with a lucky sperm and implants itself or is released during your cycle each month.\n\nI had to explain this to a college roomie who thought women "made a new egg each month"..
383767
It was the egg because breakfast comes before eating a hen for dinner of lunch.\n\nroasted hen..sounds pretty good..NOT
112344
I used to have laying hens about two dozen at any given time. An old gal that got me started said that if you want fertile eggs for hatching, so you are not wasting time using an incubator you should wait about a week. But keep in mind that a rooster will have his favorite hens much like girl-friends. To be more sure of fertile eggs it's best to separate or confine the hens with the rooster so he doesn't have a lot choices with whom to fertilize. Or pick out those hens that you've seen him with and only incubate eggs from those hens. Or you can " candle " the eggs to see if you see the " blood spot " on the yolk. This a sure method to verify a fertile egg, but difficult for the novice to do.
678951
The eggs that are produced in a poultry farm for table purpose only, are unfertilized ones. These are obtained from a specially developed hens that are called 'layers'. These birds begin to lay eggs as soon as they become mature and for that they need not come in contact with a rooster (male bird). On an average they give one egg per day and continue to give at that rate for a year or so. When the average comes down and it becomes un profitable to maintain that bird, it is culled or killed for its flesh; but it is not of good quality and far from tender.\nFor table purpose there are different birds that are called 'Broilers'. They are not for eggs but for the flesh or meat only. It is tender and delicious.\nLastly the table eggs or the unfertilized ones are no way inferior to the fertilized eggs in nutrition but they have very good keeping quality i.e. they remain unspoilt for a long period with out refrigeration.\nOnly fertilized eggs can produce new bird after the incubation period of 21 days. There are separate hatcheries for that. Here the rooster and the hen are allowed to meet.\n'White leghorn' is a well known breed of poultry birds, One variety is only for table (broiler) and the other is exclusively for eggs (Layer).