What if chickens could reproduce without mating?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

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.

In some cases, hens can store sperm for longer than a month.

 

[Aunt Angus]

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.

When I was a child, I wanted to be an ornithologist because I loved condors so much. I actually cried when I finally saw one.

I am such a nerd.

 

[kurby22]

When I was a child, I wanted to be an ornithologist because I loved condors so much. I actually cried when I finally saw one.

I am such a nerd.

I must be a nerd too! I felt the same way about Golden Eagles and my long term goal is still to see a Harpy Eagle in person. I wanted to be an ornithologist too! Even started off college in wildlife sciences…but sadly learned how hard it is to get a job doing any of the good jobs! Not just Id’ing roadkill and other low paying seasonal jobs! So I shifted to Conservation Ecology to be in proximity to the birds by working in their habitat! Having chickens should have come much sooner in my life—it has helped satisfy my love of large birds!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I must be a nerd too! I felt the same way about Golden Eagles and my long term goal is still to see a Harpy Eagle in person. I wanted to be an ornithologist too! Even started off college in wildlife sciences…but sadly learned how hard it is to get a job doing any of the good jobs! Not just Id’ing roadkill and other low paying seasonal jobs! So I shifted to Conservation Ecology to be in proximity to the birds by working in their habitat! Having chickens should have come much sooner in my life—it has helped satisfy my love of large birds!

For a while, I volunteered for a wildlife rehab facility where all I did was care for birds. And it's that adoration of avians that led me to own chickens.

Good for you on choosing such a rewarding career! Mine is rewarding, too, but there are no birds in my high school classroom. Wild animals, yes, but no birds - lol!

Good to know I'm not alone in my nerd-dom!

 

[kurby22]

For a while, I volunteered for a wildlife rehab facility where all I did was care for birds. And it's that adoration of avians that led me to own chickens.

Good for you on choosing such a rewarding career! Mine is rewarding, too, but there are no birds in my high school classroom. Wild animals, yes, but no birds - lol!

Good to know I'm not alone in my nerd-dom!

Probably some wild children too!

 

[NatJ]

In some cases, hens can store sperm for longer than a month.

I suddenly wonder: are those cases of long sperm storage, or could some be parthenogenesis?

I suppose many would be obvious, if the chick shows traits that came from the father and could not have come from the mother. That would be proof of sperm storage rather than parthenogenesis.

 

[MysteryChicken]

In some cases, hens can store sperm for longer than a month.

I bet it's not very often though.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I suddenly wonder: are those cases of long sperm storage, or could some be parthenogenesis?

I suppose many would be obvious, if the chick shows traits that came from the father and could not have come from the mother. That would be proof of sperm storage rather than parthenogenesis.

I've wondered too.

 

[Aunt Angus]

If they could do this spontaneously and with regularity, poor roosters would be even more expendable for the egg industry and for the backyard enthusiast. Poor guys...

 

[NatJ]

If they could do this spontaneously and with regularity, poor roosters would be even more expendable for the egg industry and for the backyard enthusiast. Poor guys...

But all the chicks would be males, which are not what the egg industry and the backyard enthusiast want.

Since males grow faster than females, I can see possibilities for the broiler industry, but only if they managed a good hatch rate of healthy chicks (currently not possible.)