What if chickens could reproduce without mating?

[azygous]

Maybe they could. It seems California condors have just proved it can be done. It's called parthenogenesis. https://ktla.com/news/california/vi...ondors-can-reproduce-without-sex-study-finds/ And the lady birds had no help from meddling scientists and their petri dishes.

While I was studying at University of California at Santa Cruz in the 1980s, there was a condor breeding program and I got to see these condors from three feet away. Their wings can span ten to twelve feet. Imagining a bird of that size is difficult, and not much easier to grasp when actually in the presence of one of these giant birds.

 

[MysteryChicken]

There was a couple threads that reported chicks hatching in a hen only flock. Not sure if I can find them again though.

 

[Amer]

Turkeys do this. I’m also curious about the answers.

 

[azygous]

There was a couple threads that reported chicks hatching in a hen only flock. Not sure if I can find them again though.

I remember that thread. Chickens may be, on very rare occasion, already reproducing in this way. They are, after all, the closest living relatives to dinosaurs, and one would think that after a hundred million years, chickens would have this method nailed.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I remember that thread. Chickens may be, on very rare occasion, already reproducing in this way. They are, after all, the closest living relatives to dinosaurs, and one would think that after a hundred million years, chickens would have this method nailed.

Yes, true.

I just recently came a across a couple things with both Biologists, & Zoologists that are talking about birds being actually reptiles, but the subject is still controversial to some.

 

[nicalandia]

Maybe they could. It seems California condors have just proved it can be done. It's called parthenogenesis.

Turkeys have bene able to reproduce this way(very inefficient) and Chicken embryos have been able to be obtain but they die after a few days of incubation, so far no living chick have been able to hatch

 

[MysteryChicken]

This gives me an idea for an experiment I can try either next year, or the following year.

I'll separate 2 hens into a small coop for about a month, gather their eggs, & incubate them, & see what happens.

 

[nicalandia]

Parthenogenesis: Embryonic development in unfertilized eggs may impact normal fertilization and embryonic mortality​

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/arti...-normal-fertilization-and-embryonic-mortality

 

[nicalandia]

By the Way ZW Parthenogenesis in birds and Lizards is much better than XX Parthenogenesis found on the Whiptail Lizards because it restores sexual reproduction because it creates only males and only the fittest will mate with the available female population instead of creating female clones of the mother.

Komodo dragons have the ZW chromosomal sex-determination system so any Parthenogenetic offspring will be Males, only the fittest will grow to adulthood and continue with the natural selection process

 

[kurby22]

Such an interesting topic!! I wonder if it happens, how much of it will be due to humans and our chicken raising selectivity and scientific research studies and how much is just due to evolution. Chickens really are fascinating in that they seem more like reptiles in a lot of ways. I love watching their behaviors, they could entertain me for hours if I let them haha.

I spent two years working on a plant - soil project at Pinnacles NM in CA about 10 years ago and got to see some of their condors up close. They are such amazing and ginormous birds! We actually spent an entire afternoon sitting under some chaparral because the condor had chosen to land near our plots we were working in and we had to stay out of sight as part of our agreement with the NPS folks. They didn’t want the birds getting close to humans, or seeing us if they could help it. That project was neat! Saw my first tarantula outdoors there too!