What is this??

[tierneyy]

Just cracked one of my hens eggs and found this. Any idea whats going on here? I have two roosters but they're only 3.5 months old so I don't think they're fertilizing the eggs yet. All hens appear healthy.

 

[townchicks]

I'm no expert, but it certainly looks like a developing chick to me. seems like at least one of your cockerels is precocious. Do you free range? Could a neighbor's rooster be visiting?

 

[Firefoot]

I would also think it's a developing chick but wouldn't it have had to be incubated some for it to develop this far along? This is an honest question as I'd be totally freaked out to crack that egg! My understanding was frequently collected eggs won't develop, and development would only come with consistent incubation. OP, are any of your hens broody? Have you seen the roos try to mount any of the girls? Is everyone acting perky and normal?

 

[tierneyy]

Everyone seems fine! I have not noticed any mounting but I definitely have a couple broody hens. I've also been a bit lazy about collecting eggs regularly the last couple months.

 

[tierneyy]

I asked my mother about this (she has lots of experience with chickens) and she thought it looked very strange and not quite like a developing egg. She said the early stages of a developing chick look more like a mass of blood vessels.

She suspected it might be a "meat egg" but I've never heard of that.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Looks like a developing chick ... You can see the eyes & beak, you've have Broodies & not collecting every day ... A "meat" spot is when a tissue of the lining breaks off & makes it's way into the yolk, "blood" spots similar.

Have you any idea? @WVduckchick @Wyorp Rock @oldhenlikesdogs @Eggcessive @azygous @casportpony Thank you in advance

 

[Firefoot]

I asked my mother about this (she has lots of experience with chickens) and she thought it looked very strange and not quite like a developing egg. She said the early stages of a developing chick look more like a mass of blood vessels.

She suspected it might be a "meat egg" but I've never heard of that.

I'd venture to say this is somewhat past the early stages of development. Especially if you've got broodies and aren't pulling eggs daily, they're incubating.

You can have meat spots and blood spots, which wouldn't look like this. Your mom might've also meant a lash egg, which, from what I gather, is a bad sign one of your girls is on her way out. But a lash egg is more solid and 1000x more gross than this, I think ..

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Looks like a developing chick ... You can see the eyes & beak, you've have Broodies & not collecting every day ... A "meat" spot is when a tissue of the lining breaks off & makes it's way into the yolk, "blood" spots similar.

Have you any idea? @WVduckchick @Wyorp Rock @oldhenlikesdogs @Eggcessive @azygous @casportpony Thank you in advance

I agree, it looks like a developing embryo. If you have a couple of broody girls and don't want to hatch chicks, collect all your eggs daily and break your broodies.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch/

 

[azygous]

Please tell us what breed these cockerels are. I think I read something once that mentioned bantam breeds mature sooner than standards. Have you seen these boys mating? If they are mating, they very well may be producing viable sperm.

One way to find out if they are fertilizing eggs is to inspect the yolks carefully when you break them open. The yolks of fertilized eggs will have a whitish bullseye that's very easy to spot if you're looking for it.

Eliminating the possibility of the two cockerels fertilizing the eggs and eliminating the possibility that a neighboring roo is accessing your hens, you would have to conclude it's not an embryo but rather a contaminant that made its way into the egg as it was being formed in the hen's reproductive track. I've seen any number of very, very strange things people have found in eggs as they're breaking them open for breakfast.

What a way to start your day!

 

[tierneyy]

Please tell us what breed these cockerels are.

Thanks for the info! They roosters are ayam cemanis.