The Egg or Chicken?

From:  "elmo"

what came first....the egg or the chicken?

TB was the first to send us this reponse: 

The egg came first. Many species owe their existence to other species through mutation or cross breeding or both. Once a species stabilizes and establishes itself, it thrives. The chicken is the only species that is totally dependent on man due to man's selective breeding to produce certain features such as heavier breasts and thighs. Ideal for us but not for the chicken.

Michelle realized this: 

Egg came first. While there were dinosaurs, they had eggs. That was before chickens existed.

mr_smiley thought this sounded good: 

it can be both
there is no answer to that question
i wondert the same thing for weeks butt no answers found

Steak & Cheez helped out with this: 

its a matter of whether u believe in evolution or creation. if u believe in creation, then the chicken came first, but if u believe in evolution, then the egg came first. i believe im hungry, so im goin to get an omelet.

David K added his thoughts: 

Well, first of all, I am assuming the question is "which came first, the chicken or the CHICKEN egg", because I am sure an egg of a different species predated the first chicken.
Now, if you believe the "literal" biblical story of creation, you'd probably have to say the chicken came first, since there was no mention of all the creatures being created from eggs. But if you believe in evolution, then at some point, there was hatched the first creature that would be labelled a "chicken" (whatever the latin name for that species is). If it was a decendant of a non-chicken (which it HAD to be if it was the FIRST chicken), then what would you have called that egg before it hatched? You wouldn't have called it a CHICKEN EGG, because you wouldn't have known that a "chicken" was going to come out of it. SO, only AFTER the chicken was hatched could you have referred to the egg as a "chicken egg", and therefore the chicken came first.

C.H.U.D. as always shared with us: 

In response to the classic question; which came first, the chicken or the egg... According to the currently accepted scientific theories, all species evolved from a common ancestor(s). As generations came and went, miniscule changes in genetic makeup eventually resulted in the proliferation of a variety of different forms of life. Major differences aren't seen between a species and its immediate evolutionary ancestor. The first chicken would have been born from a similar species - one that lays eggs. Therefore, the egg came first.

patience mubbled this: 

its a stupid answer, and a smart alec one, but you did ask...
this depends on ones definition of chickens and eggs:
- if an egg is something that is laid by a chicken, then the chicken must come first in order for the egg to be
- if a chicken is something that comes from an egg, then the egg must come first in order for the chicken to be.
unfortunately these definitions are not mutually exclusive, as we know them both to be true at this point in time. one can only imagine that this was not always the case. now, where did I put that time machine....

Sarah simply stated:  

the chicken is just the eggs way o creating more eggs.

C++gUrU responded with this: 

The chicken. If you believe the creationist theory, then God put the chicken on the earth, already full-grown. If you believe the evolutionary theory, then the chicken was the offspring of a non-egg-bearing organism, but the chicken produced eggs because of a genetic alteration.

ElbaliavanU pondered this: 

The most logical answer to the question, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" is the chicken. You say, "but wouldn't the chicken have to come from an egg?" How could it be possible if there was no chicken before it to sit on the egg and keep it warm so that it could hatch? Another good answer for the chicken being first is Creation. When God created the animals, the Bible says the animals, not all the animals and a chicken egg. :)

Adam believes this: 

Well thats quite easy, the egg.
Darwins theory of evolution postulated that organisms would evolve over time. This means that the organism that we know as 'the chicken' did not always have the same cellular makeup. As a result of evolution 'the chicken' evolved into its current form through slow steps of evolution. This means that the offspring or egg of the 'pre-chicken' changed over time into 'the chicken.' As a result the egg came first.

logik: 

the chicken obviously came first.it couldnt be the egg because it would never have survived by its self. chicks need need warmth and protection in order to survive factors such as predators and harsh environments also the nutrients in the egg that the chick feeds off come from the chicken so the chicken had have come first.

Krusher pointed out this fact: 

The chicken. God doesn't sit on eggs.

SDJX16 shared his views on the situation: 

The answer is the egg.
Lets go back a whole lot of millions of years. Remember Darwin's Theory? Well, there was some animals that kinda looked like chickens but wern not chickens is my guess. Slowly, over millions and billions of years, they evolved into the chickens we love to roast and stick our hands up today. The first ever proper chicken would of been from the egg of another chicken-like animal.

rotwang agreed with SDJX16: 

The answer - seriously - is the egg. In species change, some mutation in the parent creates a descendent with a different genetic code - hence the egg is the first in the new variant.
Now you wonder why you wanted to know.

Doctor smartly summed it up with this: 

I had egg for breakfast and chicken for dinner. I guess egg came first.