Eggs that appear to have developed without a mate

[cheesy]

Dear all,

Amongst our flock we have a female black swan - the only swan we have. Last year she made a clutch of eggs, sat on them for one day and thought better of it and rightly left them. This year however she sat on the for the long haul until a couple of days ago. So, I collected the eggs and curiously candled them expecting them to be transparent in the way a brand new egg is - yet 3 of the 5 were opaque apart from the rounded end showing the air sack.

I don't believe she's been calling in boys at night, but do eggs do something even if they're not fertilised? I've always assumed if they go solid when candling it's because the embryo is partly developed.

Graham

 

[R2elk]

Dear all,

Amongst our flock we have a female black swan - the only swan we have. Last year she made a clutch of eggs, sat on them for one day and thought better of it and rightly left them. This year however she sat on the for the long haul until a couple of days ago. So, I collected the eggs and curiously candled them expecting them to be transparent in the way a brand new egg is - yet 3 of the 5 were opaque apart from the rounded end showing the air sack.

I don't believe she's been calling in boys at night, but do eggs do something even if they're not fertilized? I've always assumed if they go solid when candling it's because the embryo is partly developed.

Graham

I don't know about Swans but turkeys can do parthenogenesis. Even under the best of conditions there is still only 1% that actually hatch. The vast majority of eggs that start developing because of parthenogenesis will quit developing before they reach full maturity.

It is possible to have an egg show a dark interior without development. When an egg is going rotten it can be very dark on the inside.

 

[Kiki]

Have you or are you going to open any of the eggs?

 

[chickens really]

I don't believe they are fertile but rotten.

 

[HatchCraft]

Had a lonely turkey hen sit on what I thought were infertile eggs, only to discover all the eggs were viable after I destroyed the nest. Never dawned on me there were wild turkeys in the area.

 

[cheesy]

I don't know about Swans but turkeys can do parthenogenesis. Even under the best of conditions there is still only 1% that actually hatch. The vast majority of eggs that start developing because of parthenogenesis will quit developing before they reach full maturity.

It is possible to have an egg show a dark interior without development. When an egg is going rotten it can be very dark on the inside.

Thank you for introducing an interesting word into my day. I've had a read and am familiar with how bees produce males with unfertilised eggs - just wasn't aware of the word.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[cheesy]

I've yet to open any - but will prepare my nuclear fallout suit in the expectation that the contents will be far from pleasant whatever I discover. I'll report back - hopefully

 

[Kiki]

I've yet to open any - but will prepare my nuclear fallout suit in the expectation that the contents will be far from pleasant whatever I discover. I'll report back - hopefully

Put them in a zip lock bag first and do it outside. Hold your nose.

 

[Trux]

Put them in a zip lock bag first and do it outside. Hold your nose.

Old cop trick...put vicks under your nose

 

[Kiki]

Old cop trick...put vicks under your nose

I hold my breath. Lol