Hi, I'm Cristen Conger from
Stuff Mom Never Told You,
here to tell you how a
chicken egg gets its shell.
You know the old
question about oh,
what came first, the
chicken or the egg?
Well, let's scramble
that up-- egg pun--
and ask, well, which came first,
the chicken egg or the chicken
eggshell?
Trick question people.
They actually grow
at the same time.
And the way it works
is through a process
that also happens with
bone growth and seashell
development.
So what happens is there's
this membrane around the egg.
And on that membrane, there
are evenly spaced points
where columns of calcite form.
And these columns
stack side by side,
and then they grow together
like crystals forming
the complete shell
out of that calcite.
So the calcite is
basically floating
in a solution around the
cell once the membrane's
put in place, and it
deposits on the membrane
to form that crystal.
So the egg grows its own shell.
Isn't that nifty?
Who knew that eggs
were so smart?
I didn't.
Just bringing a little bit
of science to your breakfast
table.
You're welcome.
Now, if you want to
see more BrainStuff,
go ahead and
subscribe so you don't
miss any of these cool facts.
And why don't you like
us while you're at it?
And of course, comment
below with your questions.
See you later.
Happy eggs.
