When buying storebought eggs, you rarely see the little red (blood) spots in eggs. Often they will fade over time and disappear but when eating eggs that are very fresh, you’ll often find those little spots. Some think it’s an embryo. It is not! Even eggs from my hens who are never with a rooster have those spots every now and then. If you care about the difference in fertile and non-fertile eggs, this is a good blog post done by pattypenny.blogspot.com. This is another very good article.
Unless the eggs have been incubated for a while and a baby chick has started to develop, what you see in those photos is the ONLY difference in fertile or non-fertile eggs.
Once the hen begins to incubate, all bets are off . . no way would I crack one of those eggs. I don’t want to see what’s in there!
Our eggs are gathered three or four times per day and even if it is a fertile egg, it’s taken from the nest and refrigerated before any embryo development occurs, unless the mama chicken is wanting to hatch babies. Then, if for some reason she loses interest in the nest or all the eggs don’t hatch, they’re tossed.
Fresh farm eggs are so totally different from storebought eggs in so many ways but no . . there are no embryos formed in any of the eggs we’re eating or giving to friends.
Tracy says
This brings to mind what a relative of mine told me…he was in the army on KP duty and he and his buddy accidentally broke some rotten eggs into the batch destined for scrambled eggs. He told his CO there are some rotten eggs in the mix and his CO replied “There are no rotten eggs in the army!” It still makes me smile when I think of it!
Donna F says
Have you thought about making an incubator for those forgotten/abandoned eggs when they lose interest in setting since you have the nursery now?
Susan says
Interesting post. I can’t believe the things I never thought about your eggs. =)
Linda Smith says
I’m so glad you explained this — I have always worried about the red spots and picked them out! I learn so much from you! Thanks, Judy.
Rhonda says
Great post about the eggs.
Audrey says
I need to send the link to this entry to my husband. We have had a discussion about fertile eggs so many times and even yesterday we talked about it. He considers all eggs as fertile. I don’t know how the hens without a rooster manage it but he’s sure they do.
Thanks for this one.
Audrey