Fertile Eggs???

[BigBuckSnort]

New to this.... I have 3 chickens, 2 hens, 1 roo. One hen just started laying this week. How can I tell if they are fertilized or not? I have heard that these eggs are not fit to eat?

Thanks

 

[Barry]

You can eat them if you collect them soon after they are laid. If you are interested in hatching them you should wait a while. Once the hen has been laying for a month or so the size and thickness of the egg and shell stabilizes and you get better results.
I can not tell if an egg is fertile until it has been incubated for about 1 week.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Check this link for help if determining if your eggs are fertile.

Fertile Egg Pictures
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=16008

The fertile eggs are as fit to eat as unfertilized eggs. I grew up on a farm where we had chickens, roosters as well as hens. The eggs were fertile because we hatched many chicks. As people have been doing for thousands of years, we ate the fetile eggs and lived.

If you gather the eggs on a daily basis and do not store them in temperatures where the egg will start to develop, you will never know they are fertile. The general recommendation is to store them in temperatures less than the mid-70's. I'd suggest storing unfertile eggs in under than the mid-70's Fahrenheit conditions also. Bacteria can grow in unfertile eggs as well as fertile eggs.

One thing I do with all eggs, fertile or unfertile, home raised or from a store. I crack the egg in a separate bowl to look at it. Any egg may have something inside that you migth not want to eat, whether yours or the commercial eggs. And especially when they are starting to lay they are more likely to have blood spots or meat spots. Those are OK to eat but some people would rather not.

Good luck!

 

[Msbear]

Great post, Ridgerunner

 

[write2caroline]

We eat our pullets eggs and all of them are fertile. I collect them everyday after they are layed and refridgerate them. As far as eating and fertile eggs not good to eat? - I challenge anyone to cook 1 non fertile and 1 fertile egg the same way and see if they can taste a difference because they taste the same to me!
Caroline

 

[BigBuckSnort]

Cool. Thanks everyone. I have been collecting the eggs every morning and putting them right in the fridge, so I should be ok!

 

[Paulo515]

I'm pretty sure all the eggs we eat are fertile. We put 16 eggs in the incubator a month ago and we now have 15 little fuzz butts running around. They all taste the same.