No yolk!

[betterthanabox]

I cracked it open and there was a partially developed chicken. I didn't eat eggs for a while after that. I eat eggs and I eat chicken, I don't do the in between stuff.

 

[Dawgluver]

Eek! Balute! Not sure I would eat eggs for awhile after getting one like that either!

 

[betterthanabox]

Yep My thoughts exactly!

 

[Daizymae]

I cracked it open and there was a partially developed chicken. I didn't eat eggs for a while after that. I eat eggs and I eat chicken, I don't do the in between stuff.

Where did you get this egg and did you have any reason to believe that it had been sitting around in a really warm place for some time? I really want to get to the bottom of this!

 

[Dawgluver]

Where did you get this egg and did you have any reason to believe that it had been sitting around in a really warm place for some time? I really want to get to the bottom of this!

Obviously it was fertilized. Unfertilized eggs would not develop an embryo. No roosters!

I don't think the health benefits outweigh the grossout factor for fertilized eggs. Just makes for happier roosters. And hens.

 

[Daizymae]

Obviously it was fertilized. Unfertilized eggs would not develop an embryo. No roosters!

I don't think the health benefits outweigh the grossout factor for fertilized eggs. Just makes for happier roosters. And hens.

Of course the egg was fertile, but that's not enough. It takes 3 weeks of approx. 100 degree temperature to produce a fully developed chick. In this case, the development started, so obviously the egg was in a too-warm place!

I wonder how Betterthanabox came to have this egg and was led to believe it was an ordinary, edible egg.

Ugh all around. I would stop eating eggs but still use them in baking, I think, if this had happened to me.

 

[Dawgluver]

Of course the egg was fertile, but that's not enough. It takes 3 weeks of approx. 100 degree temperature to produce a fully developed chick. In this case, the development started, so obviously the egg was in a too-warm place!

I wonder how Betterthanabox came to have this egg and was led to believe it was an ordinary, edible egg.

Ugh all around. I would stop eating eggs but still use them in baking, I think, if this had happened to me.

Good point. Apparently unwashed eggs don't need refridgeration. They are on the floors of grocery stores in Mexico, not in the coolers, probably so in other countries. The back of a truck or unaired building could possibly reach over 100°. There was a much earlier post on DC suggesting eggs are in the system for many months prior to getting to stores.

Disturbing!

 

[pacanis]

It had to have been a "home grown" egg, too, because egg producers don't let their hens come into contact with roosters. You've all seen the assembly line conditions they are kept in. I'm wondering how the egg happened to be fertilized in the first place.

 

[Dawgluver]

I'm wondering how the egg happened to be fertilized in the first place.

Umm. First there was a hen, then an interested rooster..... We had to take classes on this in fifth grade.

 

[pacanis]

Umm. First there was a hen, then an interested rooster..... We had to take classes on this in fifth grade.

Oh sure. Snip my post and make jokes.
You.

 

[betterthanabox]

My mom picked them up at an Amish market. It was a regular carton of eggs, I guess it must have been in the nest box for a while before the farmer found it. That's the only thing I could think of.

 

[pacanis]

ahhh, the Amish market... that explains it.
Yes, healthier chickens, but ones allowed to... "mingle".

 

[Dawgluver]

ahhh, the Amish market... that explains it.
Yes, healthier chickens, but ones allowed to... "mingle".

Mystery solved, Pac! Free range chickens, but skip the eggs. Unless you want them with extra protein.

 

[pacanis]

That's still pretty disturbing one was allowed to incubate for so long.
People hear "farmers' market" and such and automatically think healthier, but I suppose there are gov't inspections for a reason. It's a no win no win situation, lol.

 

[betterthanabox]

I like free range eggs. I think it would be important to make sure they aren't free ranging with the boys though if you are going to sell the eggs. All in all I still buy farm fresh eggs. I just check them first.

 

[betterthanabox]

The funny thing is my parents still get eggs from them. It only happened once, and I should clarify, it wasn't super far along. It wasn't like a chicken with feathers and the like it just looked like a fetus so to speak. It was between the size of a nickle and a quarter.

 

[betterthanabox]

It was gross, but I wouldn't say completely developed, just partially.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, but if they are true free range hens they need the boys around for protection. I keep my hens in a "yard", which is a fancy word for pen. They don't need a rooster around, but a flock allowed to roam does. A rooster goes a long ways in keeping the girls together and small critters at bay.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I have my hens in a yard, with 2 roosters, so most all of my eggs are fertilized. It is possible to miss an egg for a couple days, especially if you have broody hens. Broody girls are in a maternal frame of mind, and don't move (except to pinch you hard with their beaks) even when you reach around under them for the eggs in that nest. If you are not thorough, you can miss one. Or, you can find a nest that a hen has made on her own, if your hens have enough room to roam, and not realize that a hen has been setting on those eggs.

For the first 2 days of incubation, the only way to tell a fertilized egg is to look for a little white circle or donut about the size of a pencil eraser on the yolk.

After 3 days of incubation, the yolk will look like a bloodshot eyeball as the embryo begins to develop--takes about a week for an egg to get to the OMG-that's-a-chick stage. These are obviously blood vessels--NOT to be confused with a blood spot in the egg--a speck to dime size spot. That comes from the hen, and is a bit of blood from her reproductive tract. Not harmful, just not esthetically pleasing.

So--they may have had a broody hen with a nest in an out of the way corner, and when someone found it, they gathered the eggs and sold them.

However, people who are selling eggs at a farmers market in Missouri must candle them before they sell them using a strong light to check for embryos and other defects.

 

[pacanis]

I had one hen that was broody all the time, three times a year. Tossing her off the nestbox broke that frame of mind after a few days. Otherwise she wouldn't get off to even eat.