More interesting to me is the reason why chicken egg production happens so fast and frequently. Chickens originated as a species called the red junglefowl from Southeast Asia where they lived in bamboo forests. These bamboo forests go through 50-year seeding cycles where for decades they produce relatively little food and then for one year, they produce a huge volume of fruit. The ancestors of chickens took advantage of this by laying eggs every day whenever food was plentiful, to maximize their birth rate during those years. Now we take advantage of this biological quirk in chickens by making sure their food is plentiful so that they’ll lay eggs every day.
Bonus egg fact: the little air pocket at the top is where all of the bacteria ends up. So, if you want to keep them fresh, make sure they don’t get tilted or turned upside-down until you’re ready to use them.
White Leghorns lay a large egg almost every day between their first and second molts. When they retire they often weigh under two pounds despite having access to unlimited high quality feed and clean water. We don’t have any in our laying flock. We do have a few Azure Blues which are a blue egg laying Leghorn. They are also tiny birds that lay large eggs.
More interesting to me is the reason why chicken egg production happens so fast and frequently. Chickens originated as a species called the red junglefowl from Southeast Asia where they lived in bamboo forests. These bamboo forests go through 50-year seeding cycles where for decades they produce relatively little food and then for one year, they produce a huge volume of fruit. The ancestors of chickens took advantage of this by laying eggs every day whenever food was plentiful, to maximize their birth rate during those years. Now we take advantage of this biological quirk in chickens by making sure their food is plentiful so that they’ll lay eggs every day.
Bonus egg fact: the little air pocket at the top is where all of the bacteria ends up. So, if you want to keep them fresh, make sure they don’t get tilted or turned upside-down until you’re ready to use them.
White Leghorns lay a large egg almost every day between their first and second molts. When they retire they often weigh under two pounds despite having access to unlimited high quality feed and clean water. We don’t have any in our laying flock. We do have a few Azure Blues which are a blue egg laying Leghorn. They are also tiny birds that lay large eggs.