The production of an egg.

[MkBorgen]

Okay guys so I would love to really understand how a chickens body really works. We recently butchered our ducks and no it was not very fun. But it made me think when we butchered the females how surprised I was to find that they had an egg about ready to lay and all different stages inside them. There were hundreds of tiny little eggs inside and I was wondering if this is the same in a chicken and how long then does it take to go from that tiny little egg to a fully sized formed egg? We butchered turkeys growing up and sometimes a chicken here and there but my mother who is the gutting expert didn't remember them having so many like the ducks did. Just thought I would ask it was pretty cool to see and made me wonder!

 

[theFox]

Yup, chickens will have a large number of eggs in various sizes working their way towards the exit.

 

[M To The Maxx]

What I have read is that a hen has like a million microscopic eggs in their body and they start to grow one buy one and they pop out till the hen does not have any more eggs to produce.

 

[koifarm]

This may help:

http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/poultry_parts_embryo.html

And this:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question231.htm (use some of the links to find out more)

And this:

http://www.thechickentractor.com.au/eggfacts.htm

That should get you started....

 

[digitS']

Quote:
Well Maxx, a pullet does have an enormous number of cells that are "potential" eggs, inside of her. However, if a hen lays 1,000 eggs in her lifetime, that's really about all that we can expect from her.

Many of those cells begin to develop and then are reabsorbed into the ovary. In time, the production of eggs will come to a stop probably because the hen's production and response to hormones diminishes.

Steve