I received an egg the other day that the white of the egg was bloody. Does anyone know the cause of this? and when you crack an egg open how do you know if it has been fertilized or not?

-- cjvh (horse_cjvh@hotmail.com), April 03, 2001

Answers

I would not worry about it , every egg will not be perfect.A fertile egg will not look different from an unfertile egg until development starts.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), April 03, 2001.

There are many reasons that an egg may have blood included, usually it is just a bit of free-floating matter that got included, sounds like this one got more than usual, or perhaps there is something wrong with the chicken's reproductive tract that hasn't surfaced yet.

Another cause may be cottonseed feed. I forget all the things that went into causing it, but one man who was feeding cottonseed for economy's sake got all his eggs sent back to him, because once the yolk was broken into the whites it set off a chemical reaction that turned the eggs red. No one wanted to eat them, but there was nothing wrong with them.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), April 03, 2001.

A fertilized egg will have a perfectly formed noticable white spot (very tiny) on the yolk. This is where the embryo will form under the right circumstances. There is no flavor difference, although some folks feel that fertile eggs are better for you. I think the jury is still out on that!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), April 03, 2001.

I've seen lots of eggs with blood 'spots' and streaks... Glad the general consensus is that they aren't 'bad' as I have always just eaten them anyway!!

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), April 04, 2001.

== A fertilized egg will have a perfectly formed noticable white spot (very tiny) on the yolk. ==

The white bit of gook on the yolk is the chalazae. It's a membrane that holds the yolk in place, fertilized or not.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), April 07, 2001.

Yes, Rogo, you are right in saying that the "chalaza" holds the yolk in place within the egg. It is found at each end of the egg. The perfectly formed white spot that I'm talking about is on the yolk itself and is called the "blastoderm". This is the fertized embryo. CJVH..... If you have access to the booklet entitled "A Guide To Better Hatching" it will show you a good diagram of the fertile egg.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), April 07, 2001.