Lancaster
County 4-H hatches nearly 1,200 baby chicks
each year in the classroom. Most of the birds
are layers (pictured above). All chickens
lay eggs, but layers have been bred to lay
many eggs instead of being used for meat production.
These chickens can lay up to 300 eggs each
year. The eggs are usually white and you'll
recognize them in the cartons of eggs you
buy from a grocery store.
Sometimes
local families share their eggs with us -
these eggs are from other types of chickens.
This explains why you might see black, brown
or speckled chickens on EGG Cam.
It
takes 21 days for a chicken egg to hatch.
The female chicken is called a "hen".
The male chicken is called a "rooster".
Here
are some fun facts from The
National Ag Day Web site:
-
In the U.S. in 1998, hens produced 6,657,000,000
dozen eggs - that’s 6.657 billion dozen! After
these eggs were laid, about two-thirds were
sold in the shell and one third of them were
broken - not by accident, but on purpose.
Because after the eggs are broken out of their
shells, they can be made into liquid, frozen,
dried and specialty egg products.
-
The egg shell may have as many as 17,000 tiny
pores over its surface. Through them, the
egg can absorb flavors and odors. Storing
them in their cartons helps keep them fresh!
-
Eggs age more in one day at room temperature
than in one week in the refrigerator.
-
Occasionally, a hen will produce double-yolked
eggs throughout her egg-laying career. It
is rare, but not unusual, for a young hen
to produce an egg with no yolk at all.
-
It takes 24 to 26 hours for a hen to produce
an egg; there is 30 minutes between each egg-producing
cycle.
-
About 240 million laying hens produce about
5.5 billion dozen eggs per year in the United
States.
-
Egg yolks are one of the few foods that naturally
contain Vitamin D.
Here
are some resources if you want to learn more about
chickens:
4-H
Virtual Farm: Learn about the commercial poultry
industry, visit with a producer, watch a chick hatch
and more.
The
National Ag Day Web site: Learn about careers
in agriculture, find fun facts on everything from
popcorn to pigs, get science fair ideas and much
more.
EGG
Cam Resources: - Resources on incubating and
raising chickens, ducks and more.
EGG
Cam Photos & Movie Clips
Chick
Photo Credit: V. Jedlicka, University of Nebraska
Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County
Go back to Choose another Bird
and Learn More
|
