SC - Eggs - OOP

[Tara Sersen]

Found a neat facts page on eggs that may be of interest:
http://www.aeb.org/facts/facts.html

In reference to the argument earlier today about fertilized eggs vs. non-fertilized,
it is true that egg producers do not permit roosters access to laying hens.
 Hens will lay an egg approximately every 30 hours regardless of fertilization.
 Having to sort those eggs would be too inefficient, so farmers (factory-farm
or traditional, some hobbiest) will keep laying flocks and breeding flocks seperate.


Factory farms don't bother with old-fashioned breeding in any case.  They use
artificial insemination.  That way, they can be sure that all eggs produced
by the breeders are fertile, and they can remove the eggs to an incubator before
the hen gets broody so they can inseminate her again immediately, rather than
feed her while she's busy brooding.  That way they can keep very few roosters,
and keep them seperate from the hens since they can be a nuisance.  (Most day-old
cockerel chicks are thrown live onto a disposal pile, where they crush and suffocate
each other.)  So, there is never a question of whether or not an egg is fertile.
 As for the blood spots that are reputed to be a sign of a fertile egg, the
reference at the top describes what this really is.

Laying hens wouldn't be able to breed in any case - they're often harnessed
in place, with a force-feeding tube in front and their nether regions dangling
over a conveyor belt or roll-away box to whisk away their eggs as they come.


I could go on, but this is all that's really pertinant to the discussion.  But,
the one jibe I will make is - this is why I want to raise my own!!

- -Magdalena vander Brugghe