Adopting hens is an excellent idea for obtaining good fresh eggs while enjoying the company of animals. But does a hen necessarily require the presence of a rooster in order to lay eggs? The answer is in this article.
Farmyard animals, such as hens, rank third in the list of the most numerous animals in France. There are around 12 million of them, proof that their company is not to be sniffed at. The production of eggs at home is one of the reasons why there are so many hens. The rooster, king of the chicken coop, ensures their protection against predators. This gentleman animal is appreciated for his beauty and endearing character, but he can also be annoying when he announces the break of dawn by crowing. For these reasons, many people wonder if they should also adopt a rooster to get eggs with their hens.
Can a hen lay eggs without a rooster?
The hen is a sociable animal: this means that it needs to interact with members of its species. It is therefore recommended to adopt several hens when you want to create a henhouse. Nevertheless, it is possible to have eggs with a single hen. Reproduction with a rooster is not necessary for the hen to lay eggs. In reality, the egg as we consume it is an oocyte, a female reproductive cell. The only difference in the absence of the male, and therefore of spermatozoa, is that the egg will not be fertilized. The egg will not produce a chick, which means that when the egg is held up to the light, no black shape indicating the presence of an embryo will be visible.
How are chicken eggs formed?
Two anatomical structures are formed during the formation of an egg: the ovum (the yolk) and the oviduct (the white and the shell). The genital organs produce the yolk of the egg, the vitellus, from proteins and lipids. This is stored in the ovary until it matures, when it is released and transported through a kind of tube to the uterus. As it progresses, the membrane of the yolk thickens, the albumen (the white) and the shell form, and the pigments of the bile secretions color the egg. This formation phase lasts between 24 and 26 hours. Only after this time will the hen evacuate the egg at the cloaca during oviposition. The egg can be consumed if it is not fertilized, and if it is, it will take about 21 days for the chick to hatch.
Laying hens: how long does it take to get eggs?
Around 20 weeks after birth, a hen starts to lay eggs. In general, a hen can lay between 150 and 300 eggs per year, but this varies depending on its age and variety. For example, the red hen, the Marans hen or the Leghorn can lay up to 300 eggs. Ornamental hens are less productive: they lay fewer eggs, and they are often smaller. After the first year of laying, production decreases by 15 to 20% each year. It is considered that after 8 years, the hen no longer lays.
