Scientists say so.
The scientist who came to this conclusion is Professor John brookfield, an expert in evolutionary genetics at the University of Nottingham, UK.
He has been trying to overcome this "difficult problem" for many years. According to the principle of genetics, the genetic material in an organism will not change during its whole life cycle. Therefore, in prehistoric times, the first creature that evolved into what we call a chicken today must have existed in an egg in the form of an embryo.
Brookfield believes that the organism in an egg has the same DNA as the chick that will hatch from this egg. "So, for the species of chicken, the first creature is the first egg," he said. "I have come to the conclusion that eggs come first."
Philosophers say this
David Papineau, a philosophy professor at King's College London, also came to the conclusion that eggs come first. According to him, the first chicken came from eggs, which proves that eggs existed before chickens. In addition, he insists that if people think that the first egg is a genetic mutation born by a species other than chicken, then they are wrong.
Chicken farmers agree
An English chicken farmer agrees with brookfield and Papinio. The farmer's name is Charles Burns, and he is the chairman of a British chicken trade organization. In his view, "eggs existed long before chickens appeared." Of course, those eggs may not look like the eggs we see today, but they are eggs. "