Question

Do hens lay unfertilised eggs ?

Answer 1

Hint: Fertilisation of egg takes place when the male gamete fuses with female gamete. In hen production the egg doesn't depend on the rooster.

Complete answer:
Hen lay eggs in clutches. If the hen attempts to collect a clutch which results in an unfertilised egg. Hen lays eggs regardless of whether they are fertilised or not. When a rooster mate with hen the will fertilised. But a rooster is not necessary for the production of eggs. Thus, hen keeps laying eggs until her body runs out of cells to produce them.
- In fertilisation, formation of shells in hen takes 24 hours to complete.
- The nucleus of the infertile egg is called the germ spot and that of fertile egg is called germ disc.The unfertilised egg is unicellular ovum and contains a haploid number of chromosomes called blastodisc. It is circular in shape with a diameter of 3- 5mm and with vacuoles.
- In fertilisation, ovum is a multicellular structure having diploid number of chromosomes, called blastoderm. It is oval in shape, with an average diameter of 4- 5 mm with no vacuoles in it.
So, the correct answer is, ‘yes’ hen does lay an unfertilised egg.

Note:
- In hen the mature ovary consists of numerous developing follicles, which appears like a cluster of grapes consisting of developing yolks or ova.
- The colour of the yolk comes from fat soluble pigment xanthophyll which is contained in hen’s diet. If hen diet consists of yellow maize and all range of grass makes typically dark yellow yolks whereas if hen diets consists of white maize, sorghum, millet or wheat results in typically pale yellow yolk.