this photo from HERE (and the images made me laugh!)
The first person to give me a real answer - I mean, one you can verify *laugh* - gets a signed copy of Tender Graces. If you already have a copy, then I'll send you something else -- and if you just don't want a copy of TG and want that something else, then for gawd's sake don't admit that you don't want TG or you might hurt my wittle feewings *laughing* - just say, "I want the other thang...." and we'll just pretend you already have a copy of TG...teehee bawk bawk bawk.
Sometimes thoughts hit me upside my haid and I then want to know the "why's" of something. And this chicken thang hit me upside my haid this morning while I was watching a goose cross the road (why did the goose cross the road? to make Kat start thinking weird shit).
So, I got to thinking about chickens and eggs. Most animals I know of have a certain amount of babies. A robin lays eggs and those baby birds are born and then the robin waits until the next time to have their babies. A horse, cow, human, dog, cat--they have their babies whenever blah blah, etc. But how come a chicken lays eggs every day, or near every day (I know that light has something to do with it and egg people will use artificial light to get them to lay more often - but why do they have the capacity to do this? what in "evolution" causes a chicken to have so danged many eggs - especially if some of them won't even grow baby chicks?--what's the evolutionary purpose? the survival purpose of unfurtilized laid eggs?)
I mean, if us humans weren't eating them, would their be millions of chickens running around, or, would there be all these eggs lying around that chickens have squatted out all over because no one is eating them(except other wild animals slipping 'round)? Wait, but we don't eat the fertilized ones, right? So, gol-dangit, why even lay those eggs? Chickens don't lay them thinking, "Here y'all go, here's some unfertilized eggs for y'all to eat, bawk bawk bawk...y'all don't think nothin' of it, all yallses just crack em open and have at it....bawk, my pleasure...bawk bawk bawk. Y'all enjoy now! Y'all come back soon! bawkity bawk!" I mean, what's the purpose of the chicken having the capability of laying those eggs every day or near every day?
What? Who is laughing? I want to know! Aren't you curious? What other animal lays eggs every danged day? And not just one, but sometimes several of them. Why? why why why does a chicken have so many danged eggs?
The first person to give me a real answer - I mean, one you can verify *laugh* - gets a signed copy of Tender Graces. If you already have a copy, then I'll send you something else -- and if you just don't want a copy of TG and want that something else, then for gawd's sake don't admit that you don't want TG or you might hurt my wittle feewings *laughing* - just say, "I want the other thang...." and we'll just pretend you already have a copy of TG...teehee bawk bawk bawk.So, anyway....stop laughing at me...!
Before I go --- Don't forget to scroll down to the links below, where there are the Blogging Community (and local community) artisans, for which Angie Ledbetter and I hope you all will do your holiday and non-holiday shopping....and if you are a blogger with artsy kinds of things or books or whatever, leave your link and I'll post it. From time to time I'll be re-posting those links.
Have a great weekend - I'll leave this post up Sat'day and Sunday and see if anyone can answer my question (without laughing at me). Huhn. And if you google "why do chickens lay eggs every day" you'll get all kinds of whatevers that don't answer your question. huhn.
I'll be back Monday with more on the Louisiana Book Festival....and Louisiana food!
PS -- two of the most discussed about posts I have had here are when mothers abandon or give up their children (and are they held to a higher standard than men), and the post from the other day about "when did food become the (my) enemy." I have read all your comments and laughed and cried and stiffed up my back for you in indignation...all things. As for weight and body image for us women, I think we should revolt - yes, we should all contact Hollyweird and magazines and ask to be represented as real women - is this what Dove is doing? oh smart Dove! ha! Maybe More magazine is doing it? I wonder, if we all said, ENOUGH would it matter? Or maybe we have to affect the change only within our own attitudes and our children's attitudes! Our daughters! Our Sons! okay, enough of that - back to the Chickens...
PS -- two of the most discussed about posts I have had here are when mothers abandon or give up their children (and are they held to a higher standard than men), and the post from the other day about "when did food become the (my) enemy." I have read all your comments and laughed and cried and stiffed up my back for you in indignation...all things. As for weight and body image for us women, I think we should revolt - yes, we should all contact Hollyweird and magazines and ask to be represented as real women - is this what Dove is doing? oh smart Dove! ha! Maybe More magazine is doing it? I wonder, if we all said, ENOUGH would it matter? Or maybe we have to affect the change only within our own attitudes and our children's attitudes! Our daughters! Our Sons! okay, enough of that - back to the Chickens...
google images from: http://mypersonalizedringtones.com/images/chicken_laying_eggs.jpg
21 comments:
My first thought and that is really good for this early in the am is maybe chickens never laid eggs everyday and someone we have coaxed them to do it cause don't you need a rooster but then I thought no, ask my husband who had chickens.
His answer--ask God when we get there.
As a "chicken woman" which DOESN'T mean I'm a "clucking expert", it is my understanding that they lay 9 months then go into what's called a moulting season for about 3 months then start laying again. So they acually don't lay everyday! :)
I'm not absolutly sure, but I'm guessing that getting rid of that egg relieves gas!
I have no freaking clue about chickens. I was born in Brooklyn, for God's sake! I just wanted to stop by and tell you I love you and you're amazing. That is all. Carry on. ;-)
Danged if I know, Kat! (Is danged the right word?)
However, I suspect human involvement in the breeding of chickens may be responsible.
Because they can. And would you want to sit around with something that size up your bottom?
Okay - I am sitting here laughing my arse off *LAUGHING!!!!* omg - laughing---- y'all! shoulder-shaking laughing -- ah geez ... laugh....
I love you guys.....
LOL - woodn'tcha know it? I gots chickens at my blawg today too! Bawk bawk. :)
No clue why them cluckers shoot out eggs...'ceptin' it's fer our enjoyment? Otherwise, how'd we have them omlettes and quiches?
I raised chickens on the farm. We used natural means, meaning no artificial sunlight or drugs or other crap like this. Just a lot of hens and a rooster. Yet even with this in my background, I never knew why chickens laid so many.
My answer: Only the horny rooster knows why, and he's too busy doing, um, other things...
I think Barry is on the right track. Our modern hens are much more fecund than their foremothers. I found an article about breeding for egg production. http://tinyurl.com/yzg7tls From the article, I get the impression that, historically, the more productive a hen, the less likely she was to end up in the stew pot.
Because we've locked them up with horny men. If we were locked up with horny men all the time, who knows what we'd be capable of. Thank God I'm not a chicken.
Haha, this made me laugh! Now it's going to drive me crazy. I'll be back later with my 'theory', glad you're giving us two days :)
The natural cycle of the laying hen is disrupted when she is raised ‘in captivity’. A hen is able to retain viable sperm for about ten days after mating, enabling her to lay one fertilized egg about every 25 hours. When she has lain enough eggs to form her clutch, she can stop producing eggs, go into a brooding cycle, and sit on the eggs until they hatch. So, she’s programmed to lay eggs until she amasses a clutch to hatch. When her eggs are removed daily she never reaches that goal—hence the never ending egg laying cycle. Vicious ain’t it. Okay, that’s my best shot :)
Uhhh, the hormones that are added to their feed? But then what about those "natural" kind? Just 'cause they want to show that good-looking rooster how fertile they are? I dunno.
You are too funny, my dear!
Deb at Ranch Girl Ramblings....this explanation makes sense to me! So, if they weren't in captivity, they'd lay some eggs until they had enough for a bunch of chicks and then the chicken would sit on them until they hatched, and once they hatched, she'd not have to lay any more eggs until those chicks grew up and left home and she was ready to do the cycle again - just like the ducks and geese at Lake J, but since we snatch the eggs out and eat them....she is in that never-ending cycle- yeah! that's got to be it!
So, that may explain the unfertilized eggs -the farmer keeps the rooster from the hen? and thus she keeps laying unfertlized eggs - the farmer only lets the rooster get to the hens who aren't the egg producers, so to speak because the chicken producer/farmer KNOWS the chicken will keep laying and laying and laying (poor thangs!) until they get their "clutch," which they never get - poor chickens- so, YEAH! that has to be it!
Well, Ms Ranch Girl, you are the first one to come up with a plausible explanation that makes me go "Hey! That makes sense to me!" and now I can rest ... laughing...
Yes, Sandra and Barry - human involvement - but I couldn't figure out in what way or why - and now Ms. Ranch Girl has clearededed up my brains...
Now, everyone, I think you should also go to the link that Sandra provided and take a look - GOod Lawd!!*laughing* be prepared! - if there was an explanation on there, I didn't find it - but maybe only because the sight of chicken arses made me click out of there pretty durn quick ....*laughing*
DANG!That was a long comment - I'm tuckered out.
Send me your address Deb!
Whoo Hoo! Yippie! I’ve been dying to read Tender Graces!!!! And a signed copy? I’m waaaayyyy too excited *bouncing in chair*
Thanks so much Kat! Okay, when I calm down I will send my address… Phew! Did I mention I was excited?
LOL! So where do you think those eggs come from, girly? Sheesh. City slickers.
Which reminds me - has anybody here seen the "Red Dwarf" tv series? It was a BBC production. The android, Kryten, always referred to eggs as "chicken ovulations."
I never thought about this before but it's making me laugh! I have no clue why...
Our Quail lay so many but the size of them make them laughable.
As for the latter part of your post, I am revolting Kat. *giggle*
Hilarious! I'm with Susan on this one. So many things in nature seem to defy logic. :)
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