Chicken eggs all look the same, they may differ in size and color, but they all contain egg yolk and egg white on the inside. Therefore, it is impossible to tell if you are handling a fertilized egg by just looking at its shell.
There are two ways to determine fertilization. First, by cracking the egg and inspecting the yolk to determine if a germinal disk is present. Second, when candling an uncracked egg and the egg presents a red hue or blood clots, you are dealing with a fertilized egg.
Chicken production is an exciting affair. This article will investigate how eggs get fertilized, determine if you have fertilized eggs, and diverse ways of incubating eggs.
Contents
How To Determine If An Egg Is Fertile?
There are two ways to determine if an egg is fertile. One way of doing it is by cracking the egg and inspecting the egg yolk for tell-tale signs.
Upon close inspection of the egg yolk, you will see a small white spot, known as the Blasto- or Germinal disk. An evenly colored white Germinal disk is an indication that the egg is infertile.
A fertilized egg will still present the white spot, but will now have a noticeable ring around it. The proper name is Blastoderm. It closely resembles a bullseye or even a doughnut. Blasto means formative cells, and Derm means skin. If a Blastoderm is present on the yolk, you can be confident you are dealing with a fertilized egg.
The second way to determine if an egg is fertile is to use a candle to see through the egg’s shell.
Candling is how farmers of yesteryear used to determine if their chicken eggs were fertile. This method is in use to this day. You can opt for a candle or use an electric lamp* to perform the same function.
Candling an egg means placing an intact egg in front of a candle or bright light. By doing this, you will see if an embryo is developing inside the egg. Early in the developing stage, you may only be able to see blood spots indicating fertilization. An opaque color is a definite indication of a fertilized egg.
How Do Eggs Get Fertilized?
It is fascinating that countless people believe that hens can only lay eggs if they mate with a rooster. On the contrary, hens do not need roosters to produce eggs.
Egg farmers may have barns filled with hens that produce unfertilized eggs. When a rooster joins the flock, the hens will start laying fertilized eggs after mating with the rooster.
For eggs to become fertilized, the hen and rooster must mate before the egg starts to form inside the hen. A rooster can fertilize up to ten eggs at a time. When mating, the sperm of the rooster moves through the hen’s oviduct, where it then fertilizes the egg.
How Long Does It Take A Fertilized Egg To Develop?
After mating, it can take the roosters sperm anything from five to seven days to move through the hen’s oviduct.
The oviduct is where the hens store the rooster’s sperm and where eggs develop. The hen will start laying fertilized eggs five to ten days after mating.
How Do Eggs Get Incubated?
Broody hens will keep laying on their egg till they hatch. However, remember that roosters can also be sterile. Even if a hen and rooster mate, there are no guarantees that her eggs are fertile. Without knowing, a hen may lay on unfertilized eggs for quite a while before shunning them.
A broody hen will take care of her eggs by laying on them. This way, she produces the right amount of heat and humidity for the eggs to develop into chickens. The hen will also turn the eggs regularly and allow for air circulation. Finally, the hen will tend to her eggs for twenty to twenty-one days, the incubation period for chicken eggs.
People often buy fertilized eggs and then use an incubator* to hatch the chickens. You will need to exercise patience. The chicken eggs need twenty to twenty-one days to hatch in an incubator, too, the same time it takes as if under a broody hen.
Essential Things To Remember When Using An Incubator
The first thing to remember is to incubate eggs properly. Otherwise, they will not hatch.
For a fertilized egg to start developing, the incubator needs to provide constant heat at 100F/ 37,8 C and keep humidity levels at 60 -70% for 20 to 22 days. Eggs in incubators need enough ventilation, and you need to turn them four to six times daily. Do not turn them during the last three days before hatching, as the chickens then move into position for hatching.
If keeping chickens in a coop to lay and hatch eggs is not an option, using an incubator to hatch eggs is the perfect alternative.
Taste And Consumption Of Fertilized Eggs
Fertilized eggs taste no different than unfertilized eggs. The only things that determine the taste of eggs are the chicken’s diet when laying the egg, and how you prepare an egg for consumption plays a huge role in the flavor thereof.
It is safe to consume fertilized eggs. The only way someone might find a developed egg when cracking them for consumption is if you acquired them from a farmer who did not remove the eggs twice daily. The broody hens had time to lay on them for a couple of days to start them developing.
Store-bought eggs should not have developed or partly developed eggs on their shelves.
Eggs only continue developing if left in the nest with a broody hen or placed in a properly operated incubator.
Eggs do not continue developing when kept in the freezer or on the shelf.
Conclusion
It is easy to differentiate between fertilized and non-fertilized eggs by candling or cracking the egg into a bowl and studying its yolk. Fertilized or not, eggs are delicious, healthy, safe for consumption, and the perfect alternative protein.
If you want instructions on how to hatch chicken eggs, you can read on here.
