First real post...PRESSURE!

Yikes! Time to get down to business. It's been a long while since I've blogged, so hopefully you don't fall asleep midway through this. I wanted to pick a topic epic enough for a first post. Something to grab your attention, leaving you yearning for more!

Alas, I have chosen a fairly banal topic; it is a question I have often asked myself and never really got around to finding the answer. But first, I will tell you how I even came to this topic.

Last night as I was about to dose off in my bed, I was pondering this article. Basically, the article says that working out a few times a week isn't really going to solve the obesity problem in the US because when you work out, you tend to get hungrier and eat more. You also end up tired and more likely to be lazy and sedentary the rest of the time. (But please, read the article, I am not doing it justice.)

Then I got to thinking about how so many of us sit in front of a computer all day. This is probably why we are having health problems. We simply aren't using our muscles or engaging in any kind of physical activity for most of the day (strenuous or otherwise).

I thought perhaps I should change this. I want to be healthy! Obviously, the best-seeming option to half-asleep Julie is to go back to the way things were in the olden days. I will move to a farm where I will spend my days being self sufficient! Initially, I decided I would need two pigs, two cows and two chickens. (And in retrospect, two sheep.) One male and one female of each for mating purposes (how Noah's Ark of me!)

I would use the female cow for milk, (because what doesn't taste better with cheese?) I would also use her and the male for breeding new cows which I will use for meat. And when the cows get too old to mate/produce milk, I will eat them and their offspring will replace them. (Ignoring any problems that would arise due to the inbreeding.) In a similar way, I would use the sheep for wool. I decided to forgo the pigs because they are pretty worthless unless you want to eat them.

So lastly we come to the chicken. The rooster would be my alarm clock, the chicken would lay my eggs, and I would raise all other chicken offspring for food.

OK...SO HERE IS MY QUESTION...
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How do roosters fertilize the eggs, anyway? I've never quite understood the mating of birds. Those shells are hard! Do they get fertilized inside the body or outside? Do birds even have penises?

Well, according the the various online sources I consulted, roosters do not have any external sexual organ. However, there is a process of mounting the hen and depositing sperm. So basically they have bird sex. Apparently the rooster likes to lure the hen out into the open with food, and then forces himself upon her. I'm not sure I like this idea of having chickens so much anymore.

Interestingly, the female bird lays an egg whether is is fertilized or not. (Which just seems like a waste, Mother Nature. I'm sure those big eggs aren't pleasant to push out!) Most species of female birds only utilize their left ovary. The right never fully develops and scientists think this trait evolved because it makes them light enough to fly.

So there you go. Now when you are eating your hard-boiled Easter eggs this weekend, you will know that a chicken avoided being raped to put that on your table.