Fertilized or not?

[87nuggets]

I bought some chickens earlier this week and one of them is old enough to lay eggs... There were roosters at the place where I bought them, and the egg-laying chicken has given us three eggs already! We're new chicken owners and I only had hens when I was a kid, so I can't tell if this egg looks fertilized or not... she doesn't stay on the egg after she lays it, but after she gets off, when I take it she starts clucking at me... not sure if they normally do this or if she thinks I'm taking her babies... If they are fertile, how many do they usually lay before they're not?

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

That looks fertilized. Eggs can be fertilized for up to two weeks after the last time the hen was mated.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I have read that that small white circle means it is fertilized, but I had a long period without a rooster and that white dot was still present so I don't know

X2 on Buffbrahmasforever though; if they were with a rooster recently, it's a safe bet that it's fertilized.

 

[GambaDawn]

But you can still eat fertilized eggs, correct?

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Yes, fertilized eggs are 100% safe to eat.

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

But you can still eat fertilized eggs, correct?

Yep! Almost all of our eggs are fertilized.

 

[Sonya9]

Hard to tell from the pic. Though even if they are fertilized that won't make the hen more protective of them, she doesn't know if they are or aren't.

 

[Tonyroo]

A fertile egg has has a bullseye on the yolk, non fertile just has a white dot.
You can still eat it either way, still tasty.