From ovary to egg: how a hen makes an egg in 25 hours
A brown layer in full lay makes almost every day an object of 60 g, with a shell of 6 g of pure calcium deposited in twenty hours, while her whole skeleton contains only 20 g of calcium. This permanent construction site explains everything you observe in a layer house: why laying happens in the morning, why shells get thinner in heat, why the timing of calcium and the hours of light matter, why a stressed hen does not lay the next day. Let us follow the egg, step by step.
12 min read · 5-question quiz at the end
By Abdul Hussein ChoumanFounder of NEXTEKCI · Agnibilékrou hatchery since 2006Lesson reserved for students following the steps
This lesson is part of Level 6 — The bird: anatomy, physiology, behaviour. It opens to registered students who have passed the level 5 exam. Levels 1 to 5 and the tracks remain readable by everyone.
What you will learn
- ✓Describe the five stages of egg formation, with the duration and role of each
- ✓Explain why a hen lays about one egg a day, in sequences, and why the laying time moves later
- ✓Calculate a flock's calcium needs and link shell quality to feed, light and heat
- ✓Read egg defects as clues to what is happening in the hen's body