What came first, the chicken or the egg? A debate as old as time is brought up on television, on talk shows, and even in video games. This question is often used as filler in conversations or pointless debates. Next time you are faced with this question you will have the answer because wIth today’s knowledge and technology, the timeless question has finally come to a close. 

The science behind the chicken comes first: For the chicken egg to be made, a protein found in the chicken’s ovaries is needed to produce the shell of the chicken egg. As the Australian academy of science states, “To form a shell, the calcium needs to be deposited in the form of CaCo^3 crystals, and hens rely on specific proteins that enable this process. One such protein, called ovocleidin-17 (or OC-17 for short), is only found in the ovary of a chicken, leading to the suggestion that the chicken must have come before the chicken egg.”

This leads to the science behind the egg coming first: Research from the Australian Academy of science shows the chicken evolved around 60 million years ago which means that the theory of the chicken existing at the beginning of life on earth is out. This means it has to have been the outcome of two different species of animal similar to the chicken having an offspring, with that offspring being the chicken. This theory has been proven by tracing the genetics of the chicken back to their prior species from which they evolved.

Whenever faced with the question, which came first the chicken or the egg, I go with the egg. The reasoning behind choosing the egg is that the chicken is probably an adaptation to other species having offspring. However, if you were to say that the chickens were put on the earth at the beginning of life on earth, then it would be the chicken. I highly doubt that they are a prehistoric species, because of their inability to fly and their lack of survival skills. This, along with their weak build and lack of intelligence would point to their extinction.

In conclusion, even though the egg needs protein found in the chicken’s ovaries to be made, the chicken is made as the offspring of two different species, and knowing this leads to the understanding that the egg came before the chicken.