Why do people get so worked up about eating a fertilized egg?

[Sunny Side Up]

It's always a good idea, whether you're using sterile store eggs or fertile home-grown ones, to first crack the egg into a separate little bowl or saucer before adding the egg to your recipe. That way it's easier to fish out any unwanted bits of shell or whatever, and if there's something about the egg that you don't like you're not ruining your whole meal.

I keep several ambitious roosters with my laying flock. We collect the eggs daily & don't often have surprises in the eggs. Only rarely, especially with the bantams, who sometimes hide a nest for a few days before it's discovered. If an egg customer asks about their eggs' fertility I will explain it all to them, but most of them don't ask/don't mind. I know that some people have religious convictions about eating even a potential life in the form of a fertilized egg, I figure they would be certain to ask about the eggs before buying them.

You can think of fertilized eggs like plant seeds. They are viable for a certain length of time but will only begin to grow when they meet certain conditions. Otherwise the life within them is inert, and almost invisible too. Opening an egg that has begun to develop is like slicing open a tomato whose seeds have begun to sprout inside it. It needn't frighten or disgust you, and if you remembered to use the separate little dish you can just dump it all into your compost bucket. Then just rinse off the dish & reach for another egg.

 

[Longhaven Hen]

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Long live the separate little bowl or saucer...or in my case the little glass dish!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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I'll try to find a link to a page that explains it best. But I know that the rooster only gets a very small amount of semen into the hen with each "transaction". And the hen has a special sort of pocket where she can store it to use to fertilize each egg individually that comes down her egg conveyor belt. There is only one individual sperm that connects with her ova on the surface of the egg yolk. You'd have to possess a fantastic set of sensitive taste buds to detect that.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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Yup, you were posting about it while I was finishing my post about the same thing. Ol' Murphy makes sure I get a surprise in the occasional ONE I neglect to crack separately in the little dish. But it's really nothing that would hurt you, not much different from adult chicken meat, although certainly an acquired taste. Not one I plan on acquiring though...

 

[PortageGirl]

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So, exactly what religion thinks it's ok to eat fried chicken but not fertilized eggs? If somoene's a vegan, they won't eat either eggs or meat of course, but if they're strict vegetarian but not vegan, they may eat eggs if they know the hens are kept humanely and fed only vegetarian diets, and I can respect that. I'm having a really hard time figuring out exactly what religion objects to fertile eggs.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the group, but I think it's the one where they're so concerned about ending a life that they walk around with gauze over their nose & mouth so they won't accidentally swallow a bug. Or something like that, I'm not certain about all the facts. But I guess some people can be that sensitive about perceived killing that they wouldn't want to eat fertilized eggs, whether it was because of their religion's rules or other personal convictions. If that were the case then I imagine they'd be sure to ask if they were going to buy my home-grown eggs. And I can respect folks with those convictions, though wouldn't want to try to live like that, it must be exhausting.

What I can't respect are folks who are insufferably self-righteous about being vegetarians because they don't want to harm animals, or eat anything with a face, or was featured in a Disney movie -- and they still eat eggs and dairy products. They must realize the enormous debt of gratitude they owe the world's carnivores & omnivores who are busy eating up all the roosters & steers that are a by-product of these industries. Even if the eggs & dairy are produced in friendly backyard settings.

 

[RevaVirginia]

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Always Sunny Side Up. Love your use of language. I can remember many instances where you turned on my proverbial light bulb.

Could have quoted even more from the same page. Just wanted to say thanks.

 

[speckledhen]

Okay, be careful here, folks. Everyone has the right to eat or not eat whatever they like for whatever reason they've settled upon. Maxx just asked a simple why question. No need to flame anyone.

 

[PortageGirl]

I only asked the question because I have dated a vegetarian, who was one based on ethical and social reasoning, it takes a lot more resources to raise a cow than a field of soy or other healthy grain. He ate some limited eggs and milk but made sure he knew the sources and he was very concerned about how the industry treats animals. He did not preach, pontify or bother people with his outlook though if asked he would politely explain. I also had a boss who was a vegetarian because he felt it healthier, while he was not quite as strict, still dedicated. I know the difference between all the types of vegetarians out there (and there's quite a list, some who I can barely connect the word vegetarian to!). There are much stricter vegetarians out there, some of whom go out of their way to make other people uncomfortable, I guess I see why they do it, I don't tolerate it and since I'm aware of how animals are treated they lose their shock value in dealing with me.

 

[Equus5O]

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One of the guys at work that buys my eggs told me in the beginning that he wanted fertilized eggs. He swears that they're better than unfertilized. When I told him that I had two roosters, he was thrilled! Now, he's buying eggs for his mother, too. He said she hasn't had fresh eggs since they left Jamaica.