Are all chickens eggs fertilised and capable of hatching or are most of them (ie from battery farms) 'sterile'?
2007-05-12 21:21:58 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Most are sterile
2007-05-13 04:20:49 · answer #1 · answered by chillipope 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Most eggs you would buy from the store (99.9%) are infertile. That means the hens were never mated by a male and sperm has never entered the germinal disc for fertilization. Eggs must be fertile in order to hatch. Even if the eggs you got at the store happened to have been fertilized, you still could not hatch them because they have not been stored properly. Hatching eggs are kept slightly warmer (at 55F) than table eggs. Also, hatching eggs need to have the proper humidity when stored, and they need to be turned a few times each day so the germinal disc & yolk don't stick to the shell membranes. Store eggs are stored at around 40F. This temp normally would "kill" the chance of a fetile egg ever hatching.
Noticed that somone said if you see blood spots in the store eggs that means the egg has been fetiliized. NOT TRUE! An egg starts out as just the yolk at the beginning of the female reproductive tract. When the yolk is ovulated/released from the ovary, there is a very specific line called the stigma where the yolk is supposed to be released. The rest of the ovary's follicle is covered with blood vessels to nourish the yolk before it ovulates. However, in nature, things don't always go exactly as planned. If the yolk follicle doesn't open right on the stigma, some of the blood vessels can break causing a small amount of blood to ovulate with the yolk. Meat spots happen if part of the yolk follicle or infindibulum (1st aprt of the repro tract) breaks off and "sticks" to the yolk. Basically, whatever starts out with the yolk in the tract ends up in the finished egg.
2007-05-15 14:41:03 · answer #2 · answered by poultypower 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not all eggs are fertilised, some eggs bought in the supermarket have been known to be fertile, in the paper just the other day was a story about a young boy who put some supermarket eggs in an incubator and 1 of them hatched out, fertile eggs are perfectly safe to eat by the way, next time you crack a free range egg open, look closely at the yolk and if you see a small circle anywhere on it, then the egg is fertile, Battery hens that are bought by people to have in their garden, if they are then run with a cockerel will have fertile eggs, but they won't always hatch as these breeds of chicken have be bred specifically as throw away egg laying machines, poor little things, we have rescued many of them and it is heart warming to see them grow their feathers back again and begin to enjoy them selves out in the sun.
Sorry went off topic a bit!
2007-05-13 05:33:22 · answer #3 · answered by Pawstimes16 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The eggs you buy are sterile. The hens are not mated with cockerels.In the free range farms where there is a possibility that some eggs may have been fertilised the traditional method was to "candle"the eggs to avoid selling fertilised ones.Obviously some eggs have to be fertilised in order that more chicks are hatched for the egg and chicken farms.
2007-05-13 04:31:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
".If they have blood specks in them when cracked open then they are fertilised"
Not so. Blood spots have nothing to do with whether an egg is fertilised or not. The blood spot is from a burst blood vessel in the chicken that gets enclosed with the egg. It is perfectly safe to eat but if you don't like it, lift it off with the point of a knife. They occur just as frequently in unfertilised eggs as they do in fertilised.
There is no nutritional or flavour difference between fresh fertilised or unfertilised eggs.
2007-05-13 19:34:38 · answer #5 · answered by tentofield 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the hen must have a rooster to make her eggs fertile...... and even then not all eggs will hatch. Battery hens - what a sorry life they lead...
My chooks are free range and are pets with names. (Cooka, Silkie, Dusty, Bella, Snowy, Asha and Yellow legs) hehehe
so I'm not a fan of battery hens. I only have hens so when I want chickens i just get some fertilised eggs from a friend who has a rooster when my chooks go clucky with their own laid eggs.
2007-05-13 04:29:56 · answer #6 · answered by i love my garden 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
only the ones from the farm that have roosters around that jumps on the chickens back and fertilizes the eggs
All of the eggs from battery chickens are infertile because they sit alone in cage with out a rooster
2007-05-14 05:34:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most eggs bought in a supermarket are sterile unless they are free range in which case there may be a small chance of a rooster being among the hens.
2007-05-13 13:26:27 · answer #8 · answered by Ian M 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most are sterile as the chicken does not have contact with a cockerel.If they have blood specks in them when cracked open then they are fertilised
2007-05-13 04:26:46 · answer #9 · answered by pups 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Any egg needs to be fertilized in order to "hatch". all females "lay" eggs.
The chicken eggs from the supermarkets are not fertilized therefore will not hatch.
2007-05-13 04:26:47 · answer #10 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If the egg has been fertilized, then it can hatch. Otherwise, no.
Chicken eggs that come from egg farms have not been fertilized.
2007-05-13 04:27:04 · answer #11 · answered by EmilyRN 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋