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sleepymummy

Eggs before they are laid

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I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day stemming from the point that he thought we were barking having hens despite the fact he thought the eggs were great. After a few glasses of wine he asked me about egg production none of which I can answer and don't know where to look. Can you help?

 

How long does it take a hen to produce an egg - within her body -from yolk to hard shell?

As they are laying almost every day, do they have eggs "queueing up" within the body, if so, how many queue at a time? Afterall, hens are not very big and they lay surprisingly large eggs :shock: , so how many can they fit in there?!

 

I'm sure he had a few more questions but I can't remeber them now. Too much wine perhaps! :oops:

 

Any insight into this gratefully received!

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At ovulation, the follicle ruptures to release the yolk into the oviduct.

 

The infundibulum, also know as the funnel, captures the ovulated yolk. This is where fertilisation would take place.

 

After about 15 minutes, the yolk passes along to the magnum. Here, in approximately 3 hours, the albumen is deposited around the yolk. As the albumen is formed, the yolk rotates, twisting the albumenous fibers to form the chalazae.

 

The egg then travels to the isthmus where the two shell membranes are formed in about 1¼ hours.

 

It now passes along to the uterus to acquire it shell, shell color and bloom.

 

It pauses briefly in the vagina, the uterus then inverts through the vagina, the cloaca (the junction of the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems) and the vent to release the egg outside the hen's body. Laying of the egg is known as oviposition.

 

The process from start to finish normally takes approximately 25 hours.

 

During formation, the egg moves through the oviduct small end first. Just before laying, it is rotated and laid large end first.

 

The egg laying triggers another yolk to be released about 45 minutes later.

 

There can be up to 10 eggs in the system, at various stages of development at any one time

 

oviduct.gif

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That's amazing, thank you so much. It was the programme last night showing the pengiun egg which reminded me of my slightly tipsy conversation! 25 hours to 'make' an egg, that's fascinating. the programme last night said that calcium is 'leached' from the hens bones etc, it's amazing it only takes a few hours to become hard.

 

Eggsellent. I shall pass this on to my friend and amaze my other hen friends!

 

many thanks

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