How to Identify Fertilized Eggs

[@demeterestela2618]

I end it up with a Polish rooster, our pullets are not laying yet, but this video help me a lot with all my concerns. In the past I swear looking at the video that I ate more than one fertilized egg from a local farmer, I remember the yolk was cover with white, I couldn't see the bright orange yolk. Thanks to you, I know better.

[@aridupre]

I look for this often since you two showed me what to look for! And it really does look like a target or bullseye! 🎯

[@stevefarms7494]

Thank you for sharing that knowledge .. I been looking for a straight answer and until now I never got any but thank you again it helps me a great deal..

[@st.teresaskindergatenk1417]

Thank you HWA, I am doing a history of the Easter EGG project for my students and thought I better understand visual differences between fertilised/unfertilised eggs for my practical session. I searched hi&lo and your 'simple' video PERFECTLY explains and illustrates what I needed to know. All the best to you and your chickens/rooster!

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Thank you so much for the kind words. We like to keep our videos short and to the point. So happy it helped. Thanks for watching!

[@E.z.b.f]

You can tell your chickens are very healthy by how dark the yolk is

[@skorpers]

If your own chickens do yes. But if you buy eggs that have dark yolks, you won't know what compounds they fed the chickens that can create that result.

[@E.z.b.f]

@@skorpers very true

[@hercules_E164K]

There is actually a difference. Fertilized eggs contain follistatin and the unfertilized ones don't. Follistatin is an anabolic agent that helps increase muscle mass. Bodybuilders use this and that's also the reason why I'm here (muscle benefits). Just thought I'd share this interesting piece of information with you :)

[@jiamiah9756]

That’s why I’m here too lol. Don’t forget you have to eat them raw. Heat destroys the follistatin

[@moosatch8586]

very informative, thanks

[@theflockfather4377]

Great video! Thanks for the information!

[@Eddiedoherty22]

Loved your explanation of FIB 😂😂

[@maheshpatil-he8ny]

thanks so much..this comment section and answers also gives more clarity..is this good career

[@KittyMama61]

A couple of times I DID get fertilized commercial eggs. It turned into a science lesson for the kids. Occasionally there is a very happy rooster among the ladies. 🐓

[@stephen227]

Thank you, this cleared up some doubts in me, but still not entirely sure that what eggs to buy from the store to avoid fertilised. Battery eggs would be great of course if not for the hens conditions. Am a long time veggie and now believe my old diet is killing me.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

A fertilized has no effect on taste or texture. I cannot develop unless under conditions that we can’t survive in, so no chance of becoming a chick unless incubated. Nearly all store eggs are not fertilized since there are no roosters. Thee may be a few brands that are pastured and have roosters for protection, but I don’t know. Here is a decent article I wrote about types of eggs that might help you understand what you are buying. www.happywifeacres.com/the-simple-egg-what-are-you-really-buying/

[@S.E.C-R]

Thanks for this… I have a question. I’ve had hens only for almost 4 years now, I’ve never seen or noticed a white dot in a yolk in a single egg. We have an 8 month old accidental rooster we bought as a couple days old chick from our local farm store that was misgendered… we never had a rooster before that. Anyway, he’s VERY active with the girls and I just started seeing this white dot with and without the “bullseye” in their eggs over the last month or so. Why would I they have not had the white dot ever that I’m aware of until we got the rooster?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

I don’t have an answer for why you didn’t see a dot before. I’m sure it was there. If the hens don’t free range, their yolks will be a lighter yellow, so maybe it was hard to see a small white dot against a yellow background.

[@S.E.C-R]

@@HappyWifeAcres Thank you for replying… they are free ranging when they want, meaning they have a very large run, but are free to hop the fence and range as they wish and most of them do, so that shouldn’t be the case and our yolks are nice and dark. It’s probably always been there and I just never paid much attention to it until the rooster came along or I’m not wearing my glasses as often as I should. Lol

[@user-pr5]

​@@S.E.C-Ryou are completely right I always check my eggs and they never had no white dots or brown spots till recently. Most of the chickens had been vaxxine I believe is the side affects of the mrna. Gov forces local farmers as well to vaxxine them

[@eon2222]

Actually happened to my dad , his mother kept chickens. He never touched an egg again 🤣

[@user-pr5]

I always check my eggs, they vaxs the chickens. And they put people like the guy to brainwash us. But bull this white dot crap is a fraud

[@Chickenmom777]

Thank you

[@jaymeez]

Question: if I have multiple chicken breeds will I need multiple breeds of roosters to keep the genetics or can I have one rooster to breed them all? If I just go with one rooster with multiple different breeds of hens will that result in hybrids?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

If you had only one breed, then one rooster could mate all the hens, although they always have their favorites and might not get to all of them. If you have different breeds and don’t control mating, then you will have “barnyard mixes.” That’s not a bad thing; it means you’ll get interesting colors of feathers and sometimes eggs.

[@bobsiddoway]

There are plenty of vids showing people hatching store-bought eggs, granted they are always “pastured” or “free-range” obviously.

[@subhanicdin8861]

Thank you.

[@cadwyn8002]

Thanks for the info

[@StefanieHamilton-v5f]

I honestly cracked a store bought egg with what looked like a chicken forming! Wish I could add a picture. It was about a month ago!

[@moniquejose-duvall8385]

I just bought some fresh eggs from a local farmer with only hens. Just cracked them individually into a bowl to ensure they were good and one looked to be fertilized. I came here to check and sure enough looks fertilized. Is it possible, as per Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park), that life will find a way, and somehow a hen self-fertilized? Or is it more likely that some lone rooster happened upon the farmer’s farm in the middle of the desert?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Sometimes the white dot looks big enough to look fertilized, but without a rooster, it’s not fertilized. If it’s definitely fertilized, then there’s a rooster somewhere!

[@DrRawBalls_TheDummy]

Thanks very helpful

[@gamer-man8778]

Peter Griffin is that you??

[@glendapeterson1180]

The main people who are concerned about whether an egg is fertilized or not are Jews who keep kosher laws. A fertilized egg is alive, and cannot be eaten because it 1) has blood in it and it's forbidden to eat blood; 2) a chicken can be a kosher animal and eaten, but it must be killed according to the rules of Jewish law. I just get eggs at the grocery and occasionally find blood streaks; those eggs get thrown away. Thanks for explaining the other parts of the egg.

[@sammq4499]

What's the rooster breed?

[@SpeekofDee]

Is there a way to check without breaking open the egg lol.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Unfortunately no. We have many roosters and find that only about 70% of the eggs we incubate are fertilized.

[@catgirl7765]

@@HappyWifeAcres What about "Candling" the eggs under a bright light, like they do on egg farms that sell eggs to grocery stores?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Candling applies to eggs that are developing chicks. Between days 6 and 16, you'll be able to see things like veins and movement. After day 16, it's just a black blob. Commercial farms use candling to look for imperfections like cracks and "meat spots" (oviduct blood clots) that don't pass inspection. I believe most of that is done with computers and cameras. I don't think you could see if the egg was fertilized or not.

[@user-pr5]

Funny how my eggs never had dots till now.

[@thekeepyer2389]

I literally found a baby chick dead in the egg cart at the store. Also this video was helpful so thanks

[@ryanpate9932]

No you didn’t bc eggs you get in a store aren’t fertile and they have been washed and will not hatch

[@thekeepyer2389]

@@ryanpate9932 I have the video of it. Let me find it and I’ll post in on my page. It was years ago so it might take a second to find it

[@bobsiddoway]

@@ryanpate9932 there are plenty of vids showing people hatching fertilized eggs from the store. Typically pastured and free-range eggs.

[@JessicaO490Z]

I guess my concern is one of my young chicks (4 months now) is definitely a roo. Caught him trying to mount some of the 1yr ild hens i have. I have 2 that like to hide when they lay so sometimes i don't find a chashe until there are a few eggs (so a few day). I separated the little roo. So i guess for a month i can just toss eggs they hide that i find at after they are a few days? I plan to check a couple of the eggs from the last few days two to see if maybe he wasn't really successful yet. 😳 I just don't want a blood net in my frying pan.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

If there is blood in your eggs, it isn’t from him. It her issue. Collect it eggs everyday. Look everywhere. And yes you may toss eggs you know you didn’t find the first few days a girl laid in a new location. Girls definitely like to be broody this time of year.

[@MultiTlp]

so I cracked an egg, and there was a small white dot with no "target". I poured it into my dog's bowl, and there was a target on the other side of the yolk!! so, maybe try and look on all sides of the yolk??

[@HappyWifeAcres]

There should be only one blastodisc (dot). Perhaps the first thing you saw was something else. ??

[@nutmegandcynicism]

Our hens haven’t produced eggs yet, but I told my boyfriend that when they do , I plan to keep them at room temperature (and not pre-wash them) like they do in Europe. He said he doesn’t think this is a good idea considering that some of the eggs could be fertilized. He thinks at room temperature, they might develop. Do you think this is a reasonable fear?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Yes, it is unreasonable. To start development, the egg must be 100F with humidity of 60-70% for 3 days. No one lives like that so it doesn’t happen. Plus you need a rooster to fertilize the eggs.

[@nutmegandcynicism]

@@HappyWifeAcres Thank you so much for your help. I couldn’t find anyone addressing this concern. We do have roosters, but I greatly appreciate your thoughts on the room temperature. Thanks for this informative video as well 😊

[@dragonfly9786]

so a chiken can lay egg without a rooster? why would it do that for?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

A rooster is not needed for a hen to lay an egg. The rooster is needed to fertilize the egg.

[@dragonfly9786]

@@HappyWifeAcres so an un fertilized egg is like a female flower that has not come in contact with Male pollen grains. The flower will emerge and will wilt, rather than become a fruit. Is it?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Sounds right. It's ovulation. Most mammals and fowl ovulate on a regular basis. For chickens, it's an almost daily occurrence. Nature's gift to us!

[@dailydribble]

When I was a kid in Long Beach Ca mom bought eggs (city) and she got so pissed cacked in a skillet and a baby chick plopped in the pan and we did not live near a farm yet never happened to me.

[@dortheaprzybilla6152]

Could you hard boil on of the fertilized eggs and cut it in half. Really would like to know what that looks like. I get my eggs from a farm that does have roosters so all my eggs are more than likely fertilized?

[@UnnamedAndUnindicted]

They look like regular store bought unfertilized egg

[@TheXavball]

Does like a very small chicken embryo that's in the egg but not in the yolk mean its fertilized?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Don't confuse the chalaze with an embryo. The chalaze is that white stringy part. Its job is to hold the yolk in the middle of the egg. It's perfectly fine to eat. An embryo will start to look like a small chicken even after a few days. In that case, yes, it's fertilized.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Also, when a chicken develops, it grow from the white of the egg. The yolk is absorbed by the chick just before hatching and provides food and water for the chick for the first 3 days of life. That’s why baby chicks can be shipped in the mail in the first 3 days.

[@TheXavball]

@@HappyWifeAcres ok thank you

[@laviniayale6255]

I’m a beginner: both eggs are edible after being cracked open correct?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Absolutely. Fertilized eggs don't taste any different. We assume that all of our eggs are fertilized, but in fact about 80% of them are (20% of the girls seem to avoid the boys!).

[@laviniayale6255]

@@HappyWifeAcres aah i see, thank you 😊

[@baddie1shoe]

Can I keep chicks indoors and raise them to lay? I live in an apartment.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

I don’t recommend it. Chickens are farm animals. They need space to roam and be a chicken. And they poop a lot anytime they feel like it. Some keep chickens as pets but I wouldn’t.

[@Taricin]

A day i cooked boiled egg and i cut i see chick organs and i start scream

[@DrRawBalls_TheDummy]

@@Taricin huh????

[@roshanantony64]

@@Taricin probably lying

[@moniquejose-duvall8385]

@@Taricin did someone give you balut as a joke?

[@aliqadri4672]

When my hen gives egg i rapidly put it in the incubator within 1 minute does i am doing right

[@HappyWifeAcres]

We usually let our eggs settle for a few days before incubating. Store in a carton pointy side down. Naturally, a hen would lay eggs for 10-14 days before starting to sit. It takes about 3 days at 100F and 60% humidity for the egg to start developing. Then they all hatch at the same time. This is one time where being fresh doesn’t matter.

[@aliqadri4672]

@@HappyWifeAcres only tell me does chick hatch what i am doing putting egg rapidly in incubator when hen lay egg.??

[@HappyWifeAcres]

@@aliqadri4672 It should work. I’m just saying that it isn’t necessary. When you have all the eggs to incubate, then start incubation.

[@aliqadri4672]

@@HappyWifeAcres thanks man..

[@makenzie2187]

I cracked a egg and didn’t see a white spot? What does that mean?

[@HappyWifeAcres]

The white spot, or blastodisc, winds up on top of the yolk most of the time. Why, I do not know. But occasionally it is face down. Also, if you had store eggs with light yellow yolks, the light yellow blastodisc might have been hard to see. But it was there somewhere!

[@CarolinaGirlCreationZ]

Do you have a video that I can share on my chicken FB groups about the difference in the term "fertile" vs "fertilized". It baffles me how many women ask, "are these eggs fertile". Um....yes. All eggs are fertile unless there is some health issue that causes them not to be so. LOL!

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Sorry, no video. But do they know the difference between "their", "there", and "they're"? And do they use archaic sentence structure like capitalization and punctuation? We have a long way to go but together we'll get there one individual at a time! LOL

[@CarolinaGirlCreationZ]

@@HappyWifeAcres Hahahaha! True story! I work for a local municipality and even our own City Manager sends emails out with horrible grammar and lack of punctuation. Craziness. LOL!

[@davidthompson9359]

The idea is to try and tell without cracking it open.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

If you figure that out, please tell. You lose an egg in the test, but at least you know the rooster is doing his job!

[@DrRawBalls_TheDummy]

Bs bc my grocery store eggs had a little white dot in it an that’s why I’m here making sure it’s ok

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Yes, all eggs have a white dot, but fertilized eggs have a circle around the dot. Fertilized eggs are good to eat and won’t turn into a chick unless they are under conditions not found in your home (100F and 60% humidity). Your store eggs are fine. Thanks for watching!

[@DrRawBalls_TheDummy]

@@HappyWifeAcres yep lol after I made that comment I later in the video I seen that info and thank you lol I’ve never noticed this before while cooking my eggs til last night so was curious and keep up the great work

[@JoJo-jq5jy]

Question! I have chickens. My hens were broody longer then they should be and I started cracking my eggs some of them has baby chick's in them. This is my first time owning hens, roosters and fresh eggs. I'm new to this. These eggs need to be tossed right? I can't possibly eat them, right? Lol they have an eye formed and their spine. I can't find anything online. Any help would be great! I'm dehydrating my eggs and don't want another to get sick.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Jo Jo, your experience happens to a lot of new chicken owners. I can guess what happened. If some of your hens were broody, you probably didn't isolate them, and you probably didn't mark the eggs they were sitting on. Or maybe you didn't purposefully give them eggs, thinking they might get over being broody. And perhaps you didn't collect your eggs every day. Any of this sound correct? A broody hen will continue to sit, lose weight, and get weaker, until they get chicks, or possibly die from malnutrition. If you can't break her from being broody, you'll need to either give her fertile eggs to sit on, or give her chicks to take care of. If you give her eggs, mark them. We use a sharpee marker pen and draw a circle around the egg. If the hen isn't isolated, she will get up to get a drink, eat, and poop. Another hen will go in the box, lay an egg, and leave. If eggs aren't marked, you don't know which ones she was sitting on, and which ones were laid today. After 3 days of her sitting on eggs, you'll be able to notice the development inside if you crack it. If she has been sitting for a while and you've been removing eggs she was sitting on because they weren't marked, she will have to sit longer to get chicks. Around 3 weeks (2 to 4 weeks), you can buy chicks and place them under her at night, and she will accept them about 90% of the time. You can watch this video about how we manage our broody hens: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKGlpmmnf5mGitk Also, here is an article we wrote about chick development that might help: www.happywifeacres.com/egg-collection-and-chick-development/ To answer your question, either destroy the eggs you have, or crack them and toss the ones that don't look like a normal egg. Good luck!

[@iamhis5580]

@@HappyWifeAcres - your reply is helping me to learn also! I have had hens three years now but this spring a got more chicks. One turned out to be a rooster. He is almost four months and he actively mating it seems. He doesn’t leave the hens alone. I know nothing about roosters or how any of this works! Thank you for your videos.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

It makes us happy when we are able to help someone. Thanks for letting us know!

[@JoJo-jq5jy]

@@HappyWifeAcres thank you! Yes I didn't pick my eggs. I had my baby and didn't want to leave my bed. I just wanted to bond. We had plenty of eggs so I told my husband leave them and let's see if the hatch he agreed at first but then said he didn't think it was going to work n waste our time. It was super cold (10-30°f) after maybe 2 weeks ( or less) We picked them n saw that lol horrible at least we know now then could possibly hatch chick's in winter. 😁😆

[@HappyWifeAcres]

That explains it. It is very rare for a chicken to be broody and hatch eggs in winter, but it does happen. The hen will keep them warm. Congratulations on the new baby!

[@derickslife7179]

I beg to differ I hatched an egg that I bought from the store 🤷‍♂️

[@HappyWifeAcres]

I'd have to call that a minor miracle if it happened in the USA. In America, ALL eggs sold commercially have to be washed, then refrigerated. And most eggs don't get to the store for 4-6 weeks. So even if fertilized, the chances of it being viable are near zero. Also, commercial hen houses don't have roosters, which is necessary to get a fertilized egg. Perhaps if you bought eggs from pastured chickens that have a rooster for protection (like Vital Farms), there might be a small chance of having a viable egg. I can't speak for other countries.

[@derickslife7179]

@@HappyWifeAcres hmm that’s odd but it was in America (where I was born and raised) I hatched a little chick out of the egg but then I had to give it away because my mom said we don’t have the space to raise a chicken in our yard.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Curious, about what year was this?

[@derickslife7179]

@@HappyWifeAcres 2018 or 2019 😭

[@MalfoySimps]

Bullseye 🎯

[@thegodinezfamilyy1617]

Omg i think i cook fertilized egg 🤭 i ate them 😨

[@HappyWifeAcres]

It's perfectly fine to eat fertilized eggs. An egg will NOT develop unless it is heated to a temperature of 100F at 60-70% humidity for 3 days. Otherwise, it's just an egg with a tiny amount of extra protein.

[@krisan6549]

@@HappyWifeAcres Ok

[@rosiewhite8886]

My friend was throwing eggs at a wall and a chick was in one!

[@Agent_Erased]

That cap

[@vashtiemohammed5556]

U talk to much

[@YouWokeMe]

Oh I was about to say…when you said we’ve never seen a chick in an egg. When I was a teen that’s exactly what happened. I cracked open an egg and a dang near full grown chick was in it. I know it because I cracked it.

[@HappyWifeAcres]

Sounds like poor quality control of where you got your egg from.

[@YouWokeMe]

@@HappyWifeAcres well it was in the 70s so we bought our eggs from Farms. That’s why your statement made sense, after you clarified. Store-bought eggs 100% agree with you.

[@igu642]

Thank you