Rav Mari brei d’Rav Kahana said that chickens do not lay eggs at night, thus if an egg is found before daybreak Yom Tov morning after the coop had been examined the previous day and no eggs had been found, we consider this egg as having been laid before Yom Tov. Rabbi Yosi ben Shaul had quoted Rav as declaring these eggs forbidden, this is because he is discussing a case of ‘eggs from the ground’ which can be laid at night. Rav Mari is discussing a case where a male is present in which case the hen will not lay ‘eggs from the ground’.
Question: How near must the male be for him to influence the egg laying habits of a rooster?
Rav (Safra) [Gamda] from Rav: As long as she can hear the sound of the rooster [now you know why roosters are so loud].
Rav Mar experimented and found that the rooster’s voice could carry a distance of sixty houses.
This is not true if a river intervenes between the hen and the rooster [they’re accustomed to the neighborhood]. If there is a ferry, the rooster will use it to visit the hen, but it will not use a riverwalk.
It once happened that a hen did cross over on a riverwalk to maintain its rendezvous.
Rabbi Yosi ben Shaul quoting Rav: If one examined his chicken coop before Yom Tov and it was free of eggs, and he found an egg there early the next morning, it is forbidden.
Gemara: He is referring to a case where the egg is from the ground (024).
Challenge: If we are willing to concede that [since no rooster is present] this may be a nighttime egg, we should consider it a nighttime egg even if he didn’t examine the coop before Yom Tov?
Resolution: If it was not examined we will assume that it tis a daytime egg [most eggs, even ‘from the ground’ are laid in daytime].
Challenge: If so, even if he did examine the coop before Yom Tov, perhaps the majority of the egg came out before Yom Tov but then went back inside, as taught by Rabbi Yochanan (025, 026).
Resolution: Rabbi Yochanan’s case is a very infrequent occurrence.
Rabbi Yosi Ben Shaul quoting Rav: [This statement is not connected to the topic but it is recorded here since it is from the same author as the previous statement]. Crushed garlic should not be left uncovered overnight because of danger [serpents may be attracted by the smell and leave venom. Serpents were common in their homes like we have beetles and bugs].
001: Beis Shammai: Se’or [anything capable of leavening] is forbidden on Pesach in the shiur of a kezayis, Chametz is forbidden in the shiur of a date. Beis Hillel: Both are in the shiur of a kezayis.
Question: What is Beis Shammai’s source?
Response: If the shiur would be identical, why mention se’or at all? We would say that if chametz whose leavening is not so strong is a kezayis, surely se’or is a kezayis as well. Since the Torah specifies se’or, we understand that its shiur is different.