Fertilized eggs higher in nutrition?

[Autumn Mama]

I think I may know the answer to this, but an aquaintance was trying to suggest that she thought fertilized eggs were more nutritious somehow than non-fertilized. We were discussing the merits of keeping roosters and this came up. I was fairly certain that there wouldn't be any extra nutrition supplied that I could see, but thought I'd ask the wiser ones!

Is there any truth to this?

 

[danielbrown]

There is no difference.

 

[digitS']

Could there be an increase in nutrition from one additional cell?

Before incubation, that is what a fertile egg amounts to.

For the cell to multiply and the embryo to grow, all the nutrients available for this growth are within that eggshell.

Steve

 

[numamahen]

here is a clip from from a fact sheet put out by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service:

"Are Fertilized Eggs More Nutritious?
No. There is no benefit in eating fertilized eggs. There is no nutritional difference in fertilized eggs and infertile eggs. Most eggs sold today are infertile; roosters are not housed with the laying hens. If the eggs are fertile and cell development is detected during the candling process, they are removed from commerce."


http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_on_Shell_Eggs/index.asp

Lots of good info about egg storage and safety.