What came first? that age old question

It seems that British scientists believe they have cracked the answer to the age-old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Researchers have found that a protein called ovocleidin (OC-17) is crucial in the formulation of eggshells, and it is produced in the pregnant hen's ovaries, the Daily Express reports.
Therefore, the answer to the conundrum must be that the chicken came first.
Using a high-tech computer to look at the molecular structure of a shell, the team of scientists from the Universities of Sheffield and Warwick found that OC-17 acts as a catalyst, kick-starting the conversion of calcium carbonate in the chicken's body into calcite crystals.
They make up the hard shell that houses the yolk and its protective fluids while the chick develops.
"It had long been suspected that the egg came first but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first," said Dr Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University."The protein had been identified before and it was linked to egg formation but by examining it closely we have been able to see how it controls the process."But the researchers have not yet got an answer to how the protein-producing chicken existed in the first place and as such the search still continues...

Update on my new girls

The new girls have taken a while to settle in and the old girls still remind them of the pecking order. One of the newbies has worked out how to fly out of the chook yard and wanders around in the yard most of the day. She's the one who's pretty low in the pecking order but now has found her own freedom by escaping the earthly bonds of the chook enclosure, which is rather large but now devoid of any living greenery.
Saying all that I have to say that they are all laying perhaps a few less eggs than in the warmer months but I still have a dozen over a few days which does us except when my son turns chef and makes eggs hollandaise. :/      

Ex Battery Hens

A few weeks ago I bought some exbattery hens at our local Farmers Market. I got 2 girls at $16 a piece. They were brought home in a box and set free with my other girls.
The pecking order was well and truely established by the hens and the new girls had not experienced it before. They did not stake their spot when I scattered scratch mix and they were very keen of layer pellets. They looked bewildered for many weeks and when I threw out either food scraps or lettuce leaves the new girls did not know what to do with them. They watched the others and after a while worked out that the green stuff that I would throw to them was good to eat. They would walk around and just peck from time to time. Haven't seen them scratch yet but I know it will come.
The different traits that hens display are taught by the older girls and once the new girls have been around for long enough to start being a chicken they revert to ingrained chook habits, till then they are battery hens who haven't realised that they have their freedom.

Farm chickens as pets

Have you considered raising your chickens as pets? Yes, they are an unusual pet but can be rewarding and fun to keep. The obvious positive about having chickens is the abundance of fresh free range eggs available for your own use and all the chook poo that you can collect and then use on your flower or veggie garden. If you have a small suburban block you can have a few chooks in an enclosed area to keep them safe from neighbouring cats and dogs and also possibly foxes. You can use a portable chicken A frame coop on wheels to move them around your yard safely and securely and protect the ground from being scratched up in just one place. Make sure your chickens have water and shade aswell as layer pellets and scratch mix to keep them healthy and productive

First came the chicken...

or so some say, others say the chicken must have laid the egg first.
so, does it matter which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The fowl is a creature much taken for granted. There are people who have chooks just for the eggs they produce, others for breeding purposes, others yet for the abundant variety and others for the meat.
Each entry on this blog will present the reader with one piece of useful information that can be applied to your own chickens.
If you have chickens that you allow their freedom, that is ‘free range’ chickens you will find they will forage around the yard and provide themselves with the diversity in food and nutrition they need.
These chickens can be fed layer pellets which is a pre-made product and can be bought in pet shops or shops selling rural supplies and animal feed. Layer pellets have all the nutritional value the chickens need to eat, stay healthy and lay eggs at a reasonable price.