Whiteand Brown-shelled Eggs

Abstract

BIRDS which lay their eggs in comparatively unprotected places and in a hollow in the ground, as is the case with the pheasant, partridge, jungle fowl, &c., always lay coloured eggs closely resembling in tint the colouring of their surroundings. White-shelled eggs are laid only by birds which make a good nest—those which make it in a secluded spot, or which take the precaution of covering their eggs with leaves, &c., when they are off the nest. It is a strange fact, therefore, that the non-sitting breeds of our domestic fowls lay white-shelled eggs, whereas in the eggs of the sitting or Asiatic breeds the protective colouring is retained in the shell of the egg. This loss of colour cannot be merely the result of centuries of domestication, or all breeds of domestic fowls would lay white-shelled eggs. The systematic repression of the maternal instincts of the hen carried on by man for a number of years has certainly produced the white-shelled egg. It would almost appear to be the case that the hen, knowing she will have nothing to do with the hatching and rearing of the chicken in the egg, loses all interest in the egg, and leaves it, as it were, to its fate. For this reason she neglects in some mysterious way to impart to the shell the protective colouring which is so necessary, in a state of nature, for the preservation of her race. If this be really the case there is an insurmountable obstacle in the way of obtaining brown eggs from the non-sitting breeds of domestic hens, and poultry keepers are only wasting time in trying to accomplish the impossible.