Egg-citing Activities

Transcription

1 Egg-citing Activities Where Do Eggs Come From? Whether fried, boiled, poached or in baked goods like chocolate chip cookies, eggs are a delicious staple in most kitchens across the U.S. But, did you know that in the past, some cultures didn t have chickens or eggs as a part of their diets? Have you ever wondered what countries chickens originated from, or how they spread across the world? The following activities will help shed light on where the first chickens came from and what types of eggs hens lay. Activity 1. Where in the World? Take a look at the chicken breeds listed on the Chicken Breeds Activity Sheet. Select a breed and write it in the space on the provided map. You can also do a search on the Internet to find pictures of the breeds. You can print and paste those pictures on the map as well. How Were Chickens Domesticated? Most people believe a bird called the red jungle fowl was the first domesticated bird in Southeast Asia, becoming the ancestor of the modern chicken. However, scientists studying the genetics of various kinds of chickens discovered a more complicated picture. The scientists compared the DNA of breeds of chickens in China and India. The comparisons showed that there are actually several types of jungle fowl that are ancestors of the modern chicken. Scientists explain that on several occasions, in different places, humans domesticated the jungle fowl. Evidently, chickens across the world were so useful that humans independently figured out how to include different jungle fowl s eggs into their diets. Activity 2. The Many Roads Crossed by Chickens Use the dates provided in the table on the Chicken Breeds Activity Sheet to map the directions in which chicken farming spread from region to region. Draw arrows to show the directions. (Hint: Draw your arrows from earlier dates to more recent dates.) How Many Breeds are There? People have been raising chickens for at least 8,000 years, and perhaps even longer. So it s not surprising that over the years, farmers have developed many different breeds. They do this by artificial selection, which means choosing chickens for breeding that have the most desirable traits. Such traits might include egg production or resistance to disease. But breeders are also selected for other traits, such as unusual plumage or coloration and even for the color of eggs they produce. Today, we recognize about sixty major chicken breeds and hundreds of less common breeds. 1

2 Activity 3. Why is an Egg or? Different breeds of hen lay different colors of eggs. In many cases, chickens with white feathers lay the white eggs you typically see in the grocery store while red-feathered chickens typically lay brown eggs. Here s a fun fact: Did you know, that while the outside of an egg may be a different color, there s no nutritional difference between a brown and white egg? Study the table below. Based on the breed and the feather color, predict the egg color. Circle your prediction for each breed. Check the key to see how many of your predictions were correct. Place a check mark in the row of each correct prediction. Breed Feather Color Egg Color Correct? Andalusian Bluish-gray or Barred Rock Mixed light and dark or Black Jersey Giant Black or Buttercup Golden or Light Leghorn Reddish-brown or New Hampshire Red Reddish-buff or Rhode Island Reddish or Sumatra Black or Welsummer Red-orange or Cochin or Leghorn or You can research more about chicken breeds on Henderson s Chicken Breed Chart. 2

3 Key to Correct Egg Colors and Breeds Breed Andalusian Barred Rock Black Jersey Giant Buttercup Light Leghorn New Hampshire Red Rhode Island Sumatra Welsummer Cochin Leghorn Egg Color 3

4 Chicken Breeds Map Activity Cut out the chicken breeds and place them on the correct geographical locations on the map. Breed Country/Region Date Red Junglefowl China 5,000 BC Grey Junglefowl India 2,000 BC Domestic chicken SE Asia 1,300 BC Dorking Italy 50 BC Domestic chicken West Africa 500 AD Old English Game Fowl England 1200 AD Domestic chicken Chile 1350 AD Australorp Australia 1900 AD Rhode Island Red USA 1900 AD Leghorn USA 1970 AD 4

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