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Although the enriched housing system has its advantages such as reduced aggression towards one another and cleaner eggs, modern egg laying breeds often suffer from osteoporosis which results in the chicken's skeletal system being weakened. During egg production, large amounts of calcium are transferred from bones to create egg-shell.
Meristic traits have phenotypes that are described by whole numbers. An example is the rate chickens lay eggs. A chicken can lay one, two, or five eggs a week, but never half an egg. [9] The environment can also impact expression, as chickens will not lay as many eggs depending on the time of year. [12]
[20] [21] Generally, chicken breeds with white ear lobes lay white eggs, whereas chickens with red ear lobes lay brown eggs. [22] Although there is no significant link between shell color and nutritional value, often there is a cultural preference for one color over another (see § Color of eggshell below). As candling is less effective with ...
The most intensive system for egg-laying chickens is battery cages, often set in multiple tiers. In these, several birds share a small cage which restricts their ability to move around and behave in a normal manner. The eggs are laid on the floor of the cage and roll into troughs outside for ease of collection.
While a single specific cause is unknown, chronic egg laying is believed to be triggered by hormonal imbalances influenced by a series of external factors. [1] As in the domestic chicken, female parrots are capable of producing eggs without the involvement of a male – it is a biological process that may be triggered by environmental cues such as day length (days becoming longer, indicating ...
The red junglefowl was the primary species to give rise to today's many breeds of domesticated chicken (G. g. domesticus); additionally, the related grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii), Sri Lankan junglefowl (G. lafayettii) and the Javanese green junglefowl (G. varius) have also contributed genetic material to the gene pool of the modern chicken ...
Modern breeding of chickens is selective toward "fat thighs and large breast muscles," BBC Wildlife Magazine reports. These traits add extra weight to the bird, making it harder to fly.
Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those in breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industry and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived or after they hatch. [3]