[mohs.ayaz]

Hi all, im not sure if my hens eggs are fertile.
Im not sure the cockerel is doing his business with one of the hens.
When i break then in a fry pan i see some sort white cloudy thing coming from the york itself.

Any ideas?

Mo

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Mo, don't worry about the little cloudy thing, that is the chalaza cloacawhich keeps the yolk suspended centrally in the albumen or something.

But look on the yolk itself.  If you see a tiny white dot on it, then that egg has been fertilised.

Minor edit to prevent confusion

[Casey76]

Hi Mo,

What you are looking for is the blastoderm, which is the white spot on the yolk.  All eggs have one, in an infertile egg is is small, irregular ind sometimes indistinct.  In a fertile egg it will appear as a bullseye (becasue by the time an egg is layed, the embryo is up to three day old)

There are some nice pics here

Have fun

[kegs]

becasue by the time an egg is layed, the embryo is up to three day old

Have fun

So if I eat a fertilised egg I'm also eating a 3 day old embryo.................. eewwwwww. 

[Casey76]

becasue by the time an egg is layed, the embryo is up to three day old

Have fun

So if I eat a fertilised egg I'm also eating a 3 day old embryo.................. eewwwwww. 

Which is why home producers shouldn't sell fertilized eggs for consumption

[GrannieAnnie]

Hi Mo, don't worry about the little cloudy thing, that is the chalaza cloacawhich keeps the yolk suspended centrally in the albumen or something.

But look on the yolk itself.  If you see a tiny white dot on it, then that egg has been fertilised.

Minor edit to prevent confusion

I knew it was something like that!   

[GrannieAnnie]

becasue by the time an egg is layed, the embryo is up to three day old

Have fun

So if I eat a fertilised egg I'm also eating a 3 day old embryo.................. eewwwwww. 

Which is why home producers shouldn't sell fertilized eggs for consumption

Ahhh but, many commercial laying farms have cockerels running around with the hens to help keep them inline.  Which is why that lad a couple of years back was able to hatch a tesco egg!

[nuzuki]

Ive noticed this too on some supermarket eggs, its like a little white fluffy line going from the yolk to the white, almost like a tiny feather.

[mohs.ayaz]

Thanks for the replies guys, i haven't seen any spots on the york but have seen the fluffy things coming from the york don't knw if that's fertile?

Mo

[Casey76]

Every egg yolk has a spot.  Sometimes you have to turn the yolk over if it falls on the bottom.

The white fluffy things are the chalazae and are what keep the yolk centered in the egg white.  They are twisted, and it is why you should never turn your eggs in one direction in the incubator, because you can unravel the chalazae and cause the yolk to stic to the side of the shell!