Fertile eggs vs. Non-Fertile eggs

[RIRMOM]

I have one RIR hen, (not sure of her age) who lays one large brown egg a day. How do I know if the egg is okay to eat? I have rigged a "candling system" but don't know what I am looking for since the egg is brown and hard to see through. She isn't going any where near broody, so I sorta gave up on chickies for a while. Total of flock is one hen and one rooster who are always together, free-ranging in a 25'x25' fenced off area of the yard with a small coop made out of an old LARGE doghouse(4'x4'x5'tall inside) as welll as a nesting box built onto it. So as for the eggs.....eat or not eat, and then....what to do with the eggs that we can't eat?? signed...confused.

 

[bigT88]

You can eat the eggs if they are fertile or not. A fertile egg will not harm you when consumed.

 

[RIRMOM]

Oh, okay....thanks.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Unless you add a heat source via a broody hen or an incubator, the eggs will not develop. It's perfectly fine to eat fertile eggs - unless you know what to look for, you wouldn't know the difference.