NO, a rooster is not needed for a hen to lay an egg! Roosters are only needed in order for the egg to be FERTILIZED (to have a baby). Hens lay eggs with or without a rooster around.
www.angelfire.com/oh/ZebraDirectory/faq.html
When we remove the eggs, the hen supposes: "There are not yet enough," and continues to lay. The hens of some breeds will get broody anyway after some time. This condition can be cured by placing the hen in a "broody pen".
www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm www.afn.org/~poultry/egghen.htm
Note that hens will lay eggs even without mating with a rooster. Commercially, if the goal is to produce eggs, then hens are kept away from roosters, and eggs are collected as they are laid. If the goal is to produce poultry meat, then hens are mated with roosters, and the eggs are incubated to give rise to chicks.
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Entertainment Question: What Makes Hens Lay Eggs? A hen's egg laying is influenced by her general physical wellbeing which in turn is highly influenced by diet and the conditions in which she is kept. ... Do Hens Lay Eggs?
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Biology Question: How And Why Do Leghorn Hens Lay More Eggs Than A Countryside Hen? The leghorn hen, resembles the cockrel, they can be white, brown or black, and have become popular as prolific layers.Their ... What Makes Hens Lay Eggs?
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Dr Sang told Farmers Weekly: “Our long term vision is to have poultry units set up specifically to house transgenic hens laying eggs carrying therapeutic proteins.  It is likely that the hens would be housed under specific pathogen free conditions so they would be more sophisticated than standard units.”...
www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/01/16/100850/gm-hens-lay-eg... www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/01/16/100850/gm-hens-lay-eggs-that-attack-cancer.html
I have a friend that said birds do not ever lay eggs unless they have been fertilized by a male. But I told her that birds often lay eggs without a male bird on the premises. She said that was not true. So, I decided to write about how cockatiel hens lay eggs, even without fertilization.
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Hens Lay Eggs (HLE) by Silke Stahl; by Webdevinfo - Webmaster; ... ¡§HLE¡¨ is a bit of a joke term, (or possible tongue in cheek could be a better label) coined in my Network Marketing Group - it stands for "Hens Lay Eggs" and is a take on the exponential growth theory - recruit two people, who recruit two, etc,
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Do your hens lay their eggs in hay bales, on the ground, in tall grass -- everywhere but the nest boxes? Sometimes chickens can be very stubborn about this habit. These tips will encourage your hens to lay in their nest boxes, making sure you get the maximum number of fresh, clean eggs.
smallfarm.about.com/od/farmanimals/a/5tipsnestboxes.htm