3 ms·
What I found surprising is that there's only a 15 minute window (in the infindibulum) where fertilization can occur. But the chicken still goes through all the
by sparky_z 3y ago
What I found surprising is that there's only a 15 minute window (in the infindibulum) where fertilization can occur. But the chicken still goes through all the steps of forming a complete egg even if no fertilization happens, which seems like a pretty likely outcome if the window is so short. That seems surprisingly wasteful from an evolutionary perspective. Is this due to humans breeding chickens to be more reliable egg layers, or is there some other reason I don't understand? Maybe in the wild, successful fertilization is more of a sure thing than it sounds?
- magnat 3y agoA viable sperm can survive in hen's reproductive tract for weeks [1], so she doesn't have to be impregnated in this 15 minute window to produce a fertilized yolk. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944358/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3944358/
- sparky_z 3y agoAh, that makes more sense. Thanks. It's still a little surprising to me that the process doesn't abort early if the egg isn't fertilized. But maybe that's such an unusual occurrence if the wild that it just doesn't come up that often.
- sonofhans 3y agoI expect also that chickens have been bred for thousands of years for this exact feat. There aren’t wild birds that lay unfertilized eggs non-stop — it would be too big a waste of energy.
- bagels 3y agoChickens eat a lot. They lay less without access to a lot of food rich in fat and protein.