For the Rooster, Size Matters: How Size of Hen's Comb Is Linked to Ability to Lay More Eggs

ScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2012) — A lone rooster sees a lot of all the hens in the flock, but the hen with the largest comb gets a bigger dose of sperm -- and thus more chicks. This sounds natural, but behind all this is humanity's hunger for eggs.

For thousands of years, people have tinkered with the development of domestic chickens. Through selective breeding for a few characteristics such as large muscle mass and increased egg-laying, we have at the same time caused numerous other radical changes in appearance and behaviour. A research group at Linköping University in Sweden has now shown how the size of a hen's comb is bound up with the ability to lay more eggs. The results have been presented in the scientific journal PLoS Genetics.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120904100041.htm

Hen lays egg-stra large egg

A Chinese farmer is hopeful one of her hens can smash the world record for an egg.

Zhao Li from Feixiang County, northern China's Hebei Province was given quite a surprise when she discovered the egg, which measures an eye-watering 9cm long and 6.5cm wide with a circumference of 17cm.

The whopper also tips the scales at 420 grams, with an average egg weighing just 50g.
Zhao said "I've been raising the chickens for a year, I fed the hens with nothing special; just chaff, melon skin and grass."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/extra_large_egg

Jesus seen in chicken's feathers

Jesus, not content with just appearing in Marmite, a frying pan and a drain pipe, has now apparently been seen in a chicken's feathers. Owner Mitchell Grainger, 25, spotted the face of Christ in a photo of his pet chicken having a dust bath.

Grainger told Halesowen News: 'I literally said ‘Jesus Christ’ when I saw the picture. The face of Jesus is clear to see and when I showed my mom she even pointed out the ring of thorns.'

Gloria, of Rowley Regis, West Midlands, obviously has someone watching over her, after miraculously escaping a vicious fox attack.

'It is strange that it would appear on Gloria because not long ago she was the only chicken out of 20 that wasn’t killed by a fox. She was standing on the step when he came and miraculously wasn’t touched' Grainger added.

'That's why we called her Gloria, after Gloria Gaynor’s song I Will Survive.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/835932-jesus-seen-in-chickens-feathers