Eggs are fertilized. BUT???

[Akrnaf2]

Eggs don't just magically turn into chicks.

In the right temp. And humidity they do......

 

[bobbi-j]

The little white thing you're seeing on the yolk that looks like a bullseye is called a blastoderm It's not a chick, but rather what the chick would eventually develop from if it was incubated. As you have found out, they are totally safe to eat and taste no different than infertile eggs.

As to your hens going broody, heritage barred rocks do go broody and hatch chicks. Hatchery barred rocks are much less likely to, since it has been mostly bred out of them.

As far as pullets going broody, I have pullets go broody all the time, especially in known broody breeds like silkies, cochins, orpingtons, australorps, brahmas, etc. So it's very possible that it will happen if you have a breed known to be broody.

And as far as saying a bird will never go broody because of its breed, well, never say never. I have had a red sex link go broody, a breed that pretty much never does. She only did it once, but she raised 13 chicks for me. So it does happen. And, I have a pekin duck that broods every year, sometimes twice, and that's another breed that supposedly never goes broody.

However, to ensure you get a hatch, you're better off buying an incubator, since that way you can hatch on your schedule and not on the hen's, and you can guarantee that you will be able to hatch eggs, which can be hit and miss with broodies.

Right - there are no absolutes. Sometimes you can have a breed that is "known to go broody" and not get a broody no matter how hard you wish for it to happen, and the ones that "never" go broody - well, some do.