I thought that was common knowledge!
Which end of the egg comes out of the chicken first?
By
Cecil Adams
Mar 29, 1996, 12:00am CDT
Cecil replies:
Cecil replies:
My initial thought was: these guys have been spending too much time playing the nickel slots. The more I thought about it, however, the more this question began to nag. At last I turned to Cornell University professor Kavous Keshavarz, poultry czar on the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board. According to Professor K., the egg initially moves through the chicken’s oviduct small end first. When it reaches the uterus, however, it hardens (that is, the shell calcifies), rotates 180 degrees, and makes the rest of the trip big end first. This may sound like doing it the hard way, but actually it’s the most efficient way to push the egg. When the muscles of the chicken’s uterine and vaginal walls squeeze the egg’s small (i.e., back) end, it squirts forward and out into the cold cruel world.
Cecil Adams
Send questions to Cecil via
cecil@straightdope.com.