Fertilized eggs with free range chickens?

[speckledhen]

No, blood spots have nothing at all to do with fertilization. There is a thread under Incubating that is stickied at the top of that section that has pictures of fertile and infertile eggs.

 

[LaSombra]

Quote:
yeah, my aunt was telling us today that we shouldn't have a rooster in with the hens if we want eggs for eating, just for if we are wanting chicks cause you can get eggs with blood spots and such. I don't want to argue with her or anything but... yeah.

 

[KellyHM]

There's nothing wrong with eating fertilized eggs...they're exactly the same unless you let them start incubating. A blood spot comes from the membrane of the yolk rupturing in the wrong spot, which happens in fertile or infertile eggs.

 

[citrusdreams]

Quote:
I wouldn't keep him by himself, I'd just rehome him or put him in a pot if you don't want him with the rest of the flock. A lone rooster gets pretty lonely. They really do better among a flock. If you're worried about possibly eating a fertilized egg, if you collect the eggs daily and refrigerate them, that will stop any development that may potentially be started. Those of us with roosters are pretty much assured all the eggs are "fertile" but unless it's under a brooding chicken or in an incubator, there will be no further growth.

And others gave good explanations about the blood speck