SC - egg sizes

[Stefan li Rous]

> Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net> wrote:
> >I certainly think that if the chickens grew in size then the eggs would
> >also grow in size but you seem to be argueing for the opposite, chickens
> >that grew in size but eggs that stayed small. While I certainly think this
> >is more likely than large eggs with small chickens, it seems less likely
> >than both increasing in size unless there is some other constraining
> factor.
> 
> Actually the opposite cited by Ras is true.  You breed for one
> characteristic
> or another, seldom both together.  Chickens that were breed for  meat
> production obviously grew in physical size.  If an infrequent or small egg
> layer produced significantly larger, more desirable progeny for meat
> production,
> who cares that her eggs are small?  You count the size improvement as a
> great
> blessing. Likewise, smaller hens who produce larger eggs take up less
> coop space and eat less feed, resulting in more compact and more efficient
> egg production and more profit.  The econony of meat or egg production is
> the
> constraining factor you overlooked.
> 
> Akim Yaroslavich

Perhaps. And selective breeding did take place in the Middle Ages. However,
I'm not at all convinced they thought of things in this meat or egg basis.
I think you are bringing too much of a 20th century factory farm mindset into
this. I really question whether they would have thought 
"Likewise, smaller hens who produce larger eggs take up less
 coop space and eat less feed, resulting in more compact and more efficient
 egg production and more profit." when the chickens were generally left to
eat what they would on a free-range basis. Do we have any evidence of
chickens being fed grain, even in winter?

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
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