egg is food or baby chicken?

[Chikinki]

how come some eggs are food for us, and some are baby chickens? how does the farmer know which is which?

[Loosehead]

Hens for laying generally never get fertilised either artificially or via the normal way so their eggs are unfertilised and are hence the ones for eating. The hens that are for producing more chickens have their eggs fertilised, probably by artificial insemination.

[ursula62]

The sad thing is that eggs that are fertilised are allowed to hatch and any male chicks are disposed of - usually into chicken feed - as they won't turn into hens that can lay more battery eggs.

Always buy free range organic eggs if you can, or the RSPCA approved cruelty free eggs.

[Loosehead]

But surely they would turn into meat and/or the source of fertilisation for the next gen of hens??

[CarolG]

So does that mean that the egg's we eat are chicken's periods?

[ursula62]

Loosehead - one rooster can fertilise many eggs. They don't need a 50% split between male and female chicks to achieve that.

[Noweia]

In commercial poultry production, there are chickens to produce eggs, chickens to produce egg-laying birds, chickens to produce meat-producing birds and chickens for broiler (meat) production. (And a few more groups besides).

The chickens bred for eggs will produce an egg almost every day without requiring fertilisation of the egg.  They have a production lifespan of a year.  The male chicks ursula62 was talking about are male chicks from farms that produce hens for egg-laying - obviously they can't lay eggs, and they aren't bred for meat, so they are used for pet foods (eg for snakes that eat birds) and other things.

Those bred for meat have a very quick growth rate and reach their target selling weight in under 50 days.  Roosters are used on farms that produce chickens that will be producing the young birds for meat.  (However all turkeys are artificially inseminated). 

It's more complicated than you would think!

And no, the eggs we eat aren't 'periods', they're just unfertilised eggs (different I assure you!)

[Chikinki]

thanks for the answers. but say we had an olde worlde farm where chickens and men chicken run free and do what they like. can the farmer tell which eggs to stick in his frying pan, and which are tomorrow's chickens?

[Noweia]

On that type of farm, where there are roosters running free with the chickens, there's no difference in the eggs - you would go out and collect the eggs daily, but if you missed any, and the hen incubated it, you might find a new addition to the flock in a few weeks time!

This is how, if you crack open an egg that hasn't been chilled or stored properly, you can get a developing embryo inside the egg!

[Chikinki]

oh i see!! brilliant!! does that mean chickens dont need to have sex to have babies?

[Noweia]

For chicks to hatch, the eggs must be fertilised, like every other species :)

If a hen lays an unfertilised egg, and it isn't collected, it will eventually go rotten.

[curiosity]

Sorry this isn't an answer but another question, someone told me if an egg has blood in it then it's been fertilised. Is this right?

[Noweia]

Blood spots are caused by the rupture of a blood vessel on the yolk surface during formation of the egg.

Most eggs like this are removed during the grading process but a few may be missed.

As an egg ages, water moves from the egg white into the yolk, diluting the blood spot. Thus, a visible blood spot indicates a fresh egg.

[curragh]

iave heard this TRUE story about this man who cooked an egg, but when he cracked it open there was a dead chick inside! not exactly appetizing