How to tell the difference...

[Courtneybroers1]

Question for all my chicken and farm lovers... I have 9 chickens and a rooster, they're all about the same age... how do I tell a fertilized egg from an unfertilized egg from the shell? I wouldn't want to take the eggs from the chicken if it is fertilized...

 

[ILoveBabySilkies]

I don’t think you can tell a fertilized egg from a non fertilized just from the shell, although I’m pretty sure you can if you crack one open. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

 

[ILoveBabySilkies]

Also you still need to take fertilized eggs because they will just rot. The only reason you would want to keep fertilized eggs in the nest is if a hen is broody and you want her to hatch chicks.

 

[CluckerFamily]

You can tell a fertilized egg by cracking it open.
Are you wanting the hens to hatch more chicks?
You can eat the eggs even if they are fertilized.

 

[user589309]

So do you know how to candle a egg?If so then do it the egg that will be fertilized it will look opaque.Hope that helped!

 

[bobbi-j]

If you have a rooster in with your hens, the eggs are going to be fertile. I’m not sure why you don’t want to take them, but your hens won’t care unless they go broody. If you’re concerned about a developing baby chick, don’t be. Unlike humans who start to develop from the moment of conception, chicks don’t start to develop until they are being incubated under the right conditions. That’s how a hen can lay eggs in her nest for a number of days, then incubate them and have them all hatch at the same time.

 

[bobbi-j]

So do you know how to candle a egg?If so then do it the egg that will be fertilized it will look opaque.Hope that helped!

Fertilized eggs have no bearing on how the shell looks.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Is one of your hens broody?

 

[user589309]

Fertilized eggs have no bearing on how the shell looks.

I know that’s why you are to candle them to see the inside!!i have exactly 84 Chickens!I have had Chickens in my life going on 10 years!I think i know what i am doing.

 

[Mrs. K]

When you cook with eggs, keep a tally sheet on the counter, eggs with bulls-eyes are fertilized. When you get a high percentage - then you can set eggs with confidence.

I do not believe you can candle a fresh egg and see if it is fertilized. Only thing I have seen is when the embryo begins to develop after a week of being brooded either under a hen or in an incubator.

As Bobby says, chickens are different than mammals. In nature, birds lay an egg, and must wait about 24 hours to lay another. So they leave the first egg, only coming back to lay again. Then when the number of eggs looks right to the bird, the broody hormone kicks in, and then the bird begins to set. For chickens, after setting for 24 hours, bringing the eggs up to about 100 degrees for 24 hours, only then do the eggs begin to grow into embryos. Before that they are inert.

Now over centuries, humans began to keep hens that lay well, so they lay eggs when they have no intention of going broody. They lay them, they are fertilized, but will die if left in the nest. It is not until (the chicken gods, stars cross, and day length) things all line up, will a hen go broody. Often times she will do that whether or not the eggs are fertilized or not.

Long old post... but my point is, if you have a rooster, more than likely they are fertilized, but no moral question about eating them until they have been warmed for more than 24 hours. It takes quite a bit of experience to note the bulls eye.

Mrs K