Fertile eggs??

[BigBernice]

This is my first real post; so forgive me if I post under the 'wrong' area. I have 6 hens and 2 roosters in my flock and they all share a rather large coop. I've heard so much that I shouldn't have 2 roosters with so few hens but I can't bear to part with either roo. Anyway, the hens have been laying for a while now and I collect eggs daily. I know that most of the eggs are probably fertilized, but I do eat them anyway. However, a friend pointed out to me the other day that I shouldn't be eating eggs if I suspect they are fertilized; she says the embryos already have heartbeats only 1 day after being laid.
How can I tell if the egg is fertilized? And is it really wrong to eat a fertilized egg??

Please feel free to leave any feedback. Thanks ya'll!

 

[bockbock2008]

First of all

Next, to tell if they are fertile, look at the yolk and if you only see a small dot, it probably isn't fertile. If it looks more like a bullseye, it has been fertilized. And lastly, ALL of my eggs are fertilized and I eat them, my entire extended family eats them and I sell them at church, so my church memebers eat them. The only reason I can think of why your friend wouldn't eat a fertilized egg is maybe they are pro-life???? It sounds crazy but I seriously had a crazy old lady ask me once, as I was eating a deviled egg, "did you know you are eating an aborted chick"? Seriously. I said yeah, and its good.

 

[briteday]

Have you noticed any eggs jumping out of the frying pan from hearts beating?! Surely your neighbor jests. An egg must be incubated for development to take place. Essentially, until incubation takes place there is just a fertilized group of cells called a blastoderm. You may see this white disc on the surface of the yolk. There certainly are precursor cells that can form an embryo. However, until the egg is incubated at the proper temtperature no further development takes place.

 

[Fay at Frizzled Feathers]

yup , just look for the Bullseye and you will know if its fertile.

I dont think its wrong to eat fertilized eggs , have done it many many times. There will be many different answers to this question i am sure , its more personal choice but its sure not gonna hurt ya.

Fay

 

[Tala]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I read that it takes 3 days at constant 100*F before an egg begins to develop.

Unless a hen is setting on the eggs all day (broody), there won't be any development.

 

[zantroo]

I too had some of the same concerns. I was taught in Biology and Animal Science in college that immediately upon fertilization by meiosis the chromosomes are constantly duplicating and dividing. Silly me, but I believe this means that life has occurred, is ongoing with no break, just more detailed differentiation of purpose for the cells, and we all know that animal cells never stop changing in some form or another until death (see my wrinkles aka smile lines). My husband refused to eat fertilized eggs, so I was planning on only having hens for layers, all our roos are bought with the purpose of supplying our table with fresh, non-medicated, free range meat and that is the planned final destination for each of my layers. Well, two of my 'pullets' turned out to be males (a Black Langshan and a Colombian Wyandotte) and I can't/won't put them on the table (yet) and I don't want them to get beat up by my 12 Buckeye roos. So I did a soul searching common sense analysis to present it to my dear wonderful husband. Let's say we have a fertilized egg -- if we let it hatch out it will be either a hen laying more eggs for us to eat until it is time to be used as food for our family, or it will be a roo to be raised as food for our family just at a younger age. Either way, it is fulfilling its created purpose -- sustenance for our family. We just have to make sure we gather eggs fully (no broody hen) and often. Hope this helps.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My chicken's eggs are fertilized and I eat them. If I did not eat the eggs, I'd eat the chickens. At some point, I will hatch some of the eggs. Judge my morals as you will.

You might want to check out this site. It discusses development of the embryo after incubation starts and tells what happens on a daily basis. The heartbeat starts on day 2 of incubation, not within 24 hours of the egg being laid.

Embryo Development - Daily Description
http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/explore/embryology/

For those that don't follow the link, this is what happens the first day after incubation starts. This does not happen before incubation starts although a certain amount of cell formation does start without incubation.

18 hours: The alimentary tract appears.

19 hours: The brain crease begins to form.

20 hours: Somites appear.

21 hours: The brain and nervous system begin to form.

22 hours: The head fold begins to form.

23 hours: Blood islands appear.

24 hours: The eyes begin to form.

 

[write2caroline]

We eat our fertilized eggs. I don't tell my family they are fertilized. Like my in laws. Like the military we have a don't ask don't tell policy. They don't ask if they are fertile eggs and I don't tell that they are.
Caroline

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Many of the eggs I buy in Walmart are fertilized...you can tell when you crack them into a bowl to scramble them.
Terry in TN

 

[PandoraTaylor]

My DDIL bought eggs at the(National Chain) Grocery store .....and when she cracked one into the frying pan, a baby chick fell out (there were several). So now she won't eat Store bought eggs at all. They call me and request my eggs, knowing that I collect my eggs 5-8 times a day, and that I have a Roo. At least they know my eggs will not drop babies into the frying pan.