Over the years , several vulgar estimation about eggs , lay and hatching have evolved . Be the first of your chicken - keep on friend to set the story straight .
Myth 1 : You need a cockerel for hens to lay orchis , but fertilized eggs should n’t be eaten .
Fact : A biddy or raft of hens will quite jubilantly lay eggs throughout the pose time of year whether or not a cockerel is present . introduce a cockerel will potentially ensue in him treading the hen and accordingly fertilizing the eggs . However , this does n’t have in mind the nut ca n’t be eaten , as the real development of the eggs would occur only if they were open to the correct incubation status .
Myth 2 : The sexual urge of a hatchling can be determined from the outward show , size of it and weightiness of the orchis containing it .
Fact : Despite various claims , inventions , hearsay and handed - down tales , this is not as yet possible . Since the early 1900s , research worker around the world have studied and tested various hypotheses and have found no statistically important way of being able to define the sex of the hatchling by find the characteristics of the egg itself .
Myth 3 : It ’s of the essence to work eggs during incubation for successful hatching .
Fact : If you do n’t plough bollock during incubation , some will think up , but if you do turn them , the hatching rate will be importantly higher . Turning the egg preclude the embryo from sticking to the side of the case , reserve the wench to move into the hatch position when the nut get to term . It also ensures that an even temperature is achieved within the egg , and it improves and refreshes the contact between the embryologic membrane and the nutrient - rich albumen within the egg .
Myth 4 : If a meditative hen is away from the nest for more than a few minutes or if there is a power outage and the incubated egg get to cool down , then the embryo will die .
Fact : In the result of a power outage , switching the incubator off or a broody hen by chance being lock out of her nest boxful for a long stop of time , embryologic maturation does slow down down , but the conceptus loosely only dies if the time period of time exceed 15 hours or the weather conditions are exceedingly raging or cold . Such breakout in incubation will retard the hatch and may result in slightly reduce hatching rates but will not necessarily ensue in everlasting loser .
Myth 5 : Brown eggs are better for you than white egg .
Fact : The color of the eggshell is simply link to the stock of crybaby that produce it , while the timbre and look of the egg are dictated by the diet of the biddy that lay it . The myth that brown nut are intelligent came into being because the chicken breeds prefer by commercial-grade producers ( particularly in the U.S. ) always laid blanched eggs . In most instance , these commercially produced testicle came from cage or barn systems where the diet of the birds was strictly control . As such , any tinted or brown egg would more than probably have been lay by a humble , likely free - ranging , mountain on a farm . The diet of these hens therefore would have stop more varied and flavor - enhancing foodstuffs scrounge from around the farm , the upshot being an testicle that probably tasted better but just happened to be in a brownish shell .
Myth 6 : The strong the colour of the eggshell , the better the hen that that put down it .
Fact : estimable coloring of eggs in , for deterrent example , Welsummers or Marans is most visible at the beginning of the pose season and is worthful when it comes to exhibiting the eggs . However , as the hen lays more and more eggs during the time of year , her power to color them so intensely belittle . The process is similar to an inkjet printer , with the start of the season being equivalent to a fresh magazine that slowly runs down over the year . A hen lay solid brownish bollock toward the close of the lay season therefore has n’t pose many eggs through the season .
Myth 7 : It ’s potential for a biddy to exchange sexual urge and crow like a cockerel .
Fact : Occasionally , a hen that has been laying eggs will suddenly appear to become a cock dame . She will no longer lay egg , her coxcomb and wattle will develop , her feathering will become more male in appearance and structure , and she will even begin to crow . She is , however , still a she . She has only phenotypically transition into a male , while genetically she remains female .
The reason for this is usually an environmental stress or illness such as a tumour , problem with the adrenal secretory organ or an ovarian vesicle . Not all hens develop both ovaries during their embryonal stages , and rather have one developed ovary while the other remains as a regressed male gonad . In the event that the developed ovary becomes damaged and cease to work , the sex gland can take over , and the subsequent increase in manlike internal secretion induce the biddy to develop male characteristics . She will , however , remain distaff but will not be fecund .
This clause was extract fromChicken & Egg : Raising Chickens to Get the Eggs You Want(Ivy Press , 2015 ) , a publication of i5 Press , used with license .
