Why is it the Easter Bunny and not the Easter Chicken?

The Eastre (yes, that IS spelt correctly!) bunny is just another name for a March hare. That's because in spring the hares and rabbits would go crazy with the desire to reproduce, and people who saw them thought they must be mad! Spring is like that. Lots of critters 'at it' because of the improving weather.

Most Christian Holidays have a pagan equivalent. The pagan rituals were just rolled up into the Christian ones. (One of the early chapters of The Da Vinci Code discusses how the Catholic church spent a lot of time trying to turn pagan symbology into Catholic symbology.) Anyway, I'm sure the history of the Easter Bunny is pagan in origin. Check WikiPedia for a full discussion.

[The original Easter Bunny myth comes from a pagan holiday which was celebrated on the Vernal Equinox. According to Pagan legend, Ostara, the goddess of spring, turned a bird into a rabbit. The rabbit was supposedly able to fly as fast as the bird could fly, but it was still disappointed that it was a rabbit and not a bird. Ostara had pity on the creature, and one day out of every year, on the Vernal Equinox, she allowed the rabbit to lay eggs like a bird. Due to the proximity of Easter and the Vernal Equinox, converted pagans continued to associate the myth with their new holiday, and the idea has been passed down ever since.]

Easter Chicken

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.

The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. And were made of pastry and sugar

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests . The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

[The original Easter Bunny myth comes from a pagan holiday which was celebrated on the Vernal Equinox. According to Pagan legend, Ostara, the goddess of spring, turned a bird into a rabbit. The rabbit was supposedly able to fly as fast as the bird could fly, but it was still disappointed that it was a rabbit and not a bird. Ostara had pity on the creature, and one day out of every year, on the Vernal Equinox, she allowed the rabbit to lay eggs like a bird. Due to the proximity of Easter and the Vernal Equinox, converted pagans continued to associate the myth with their new holiday, and the idea has been passed down ever since.]

Becuase it was a myth that a bunny comes out on Easter not a chicken. The myth is that the Goddess came to earth from an egg and landed in the sea. The egg cracked open and the bunny came out.

I think it is asking a lot of one animal to do both - lay and deliver. Although the chicken produced the original product, it's the bunny who delivers. In in our society, those who deliver get the credit.

Cos if Bunny's did lay eggs they could keep up with demand cos they root a lot and breed well. And who knows, with cloning technology and stuff, maybe bunny's will lay chocolate eggs one day.

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DAGNABBIT!!!

It's a conspiracy formulated by the government to corrupt the minds of innocent people.

"WHAT!"(angrily) Rabbits don't lay eggs? I've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, run a muck, led a stray.

"GREAT!"(angrily)...now my Easter is ruined.(cry)