Drinking the yolk? please explain.

[chickensducks&agoose]

I went to a farm/museum today, and the kids wanted to pat the polish hen, so we sat through the whole 'chicken talk'... they claimed to have Auracanas (they were EEs), and said that no chicken will lay until they're 6 months old... and other things, BUT, the said in the egg, the chick drinks the white part with all the protein, and then right before hatching, DRINKS the yolk... i'm sure that this is not true, and I know the yolk is absorbed through the stomach/umbilicus thing... can you explain it better than the crazy lady at the chicken thing?

 

[speckledhen]

The yolk is absorbed into their abdomen through the umbilicus, which is just below the vent area. They don't "drink" anything. Amazing what misinformation is passed along and how many will believe it the rest of their lives.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

Thanks for the clarification, i was just so confused, especially after she said that her rooster was such a rare breed that they couldn't even identify him.. he was a 'extra' chick from McMurray, and was SO obviously an EE.... so what about the white? Where does it go, does it go to make the chick? Is it absorbed?

 

[ninjascrub69]

chickensducks&agoose :

Thanks for the clarification, i was just so confused, especially after she said that her rooster was such a rare breed that they couldn't even identify him.. he was a 'extra' chick from McMurray, and was SO obviously an EE.... so what about the white? Where does it go, does it go to make the chick? Is it absorbed?

yeah the chick comes from the white, these people obviously dont know much about poultry.​

 

[spoggy]

So, a chick develops from a small spot that "floats" on the surface of the yolk called the germinal disk. A membrane forms around the yolk and develops blood vessels along the inside of the membrane that allow for the absorption of the yolk as a fat rich food source. Simultaneously, a second blood-vessel rich membrane develops. This is called the allantois, and it eventually grows to enclose the chick as a layer just underneath the shell membrane. It is the allantois that a chick will sometimes pip through and accidentally hit a blood vessel. The allantois is the structure through which the protein-rich albumen gets absorbed to feed the developing chick. It also absorbs calcium from the shell so that the chick can develop it's skeletal structure. The allantois and the yolk sac allow for the separation of two differing food sources within the developing egg, one the fat-rich yolk and the other the protein-rich albumen. Both structures develop an umbilicus that enters the developing embryo at a spot located just below the vent. So, the developing chick does not drink anything, it all gets absorbed through the venous systems that form after the egg is fertilized.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

wow steve, that sounds really, really like you know what you're talking about... I'm going to have to read that a couple of times before I understand, but wow, that lady really, really didn't know what she was talking about.

 

[spoggy]

Hehe. Sometimes I can get a bit technical, sorry. Try this. For lack of a better term, there are 2 "bags" in a chicken egg. Neither form unless the egg is fertile. One forms around the yolk, the other forms just under the shell. The one around the yolk=yolk sack. The yolk is a fatty food source for the developing chick. The "other" membrane (allantois) is the one that can use the egg white as a protein food source. Also, because it is right next to the shell, it acts as the embryo's lungs by exchanging air at the shell, and it also takes calcium from the shell to develop the chick's skeleton. In a human, the allantois has developed into the umbillical cord and placenta. Both the yolk sack and the allantois are filled with blood vessels, just like a human placenta and umbillical cord.
My wife and I were both biology/zoology majors in college. She used to work for COSI (Center of Science and Industry) in Columbus, OH and used to hatch a couple of hundred chicken eggs a week to teach kids embryology. I learned more about chicken egg development than is probably healthy, lol
Oh, and just to give you something else to to think about, until an egg is fertilized it is only a single cell. An unfertilized ostrich egg is the largest single cell in the known world.

 

[Chickenkate17]

chickensducks&agoose :

I went to a farm/museum today, and the kids wanted to pat the polish hen, so we sat through the whole 'chicken talk'... they claimed to have Auracanas (they were EEs), and said that no chicken will lay until they're 6 months old... and other things, BUT, the said in the egg, the chick drinks the white part with all the protein, and then right before hatching, DRINKS the yolk... i'm sure that this is not true, and I know the yolk is absorbed through the stomach/umbilicus thing... can you explain it better than the crazy lady at the chicken thing?

When will chickens start laying? I thought 6 months....​

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
+1


I too at one time used early embryos to study development. A few dozen eggs a week, to get hundreds of HH stage 12 embryos.

Chickens can start laying anywhere from 4-8 months old on average.