How Do Chicken Eggs Get Fertilized

How do chicken eggs get fertilized? The majority of people actually know very little about eggs and the process by which they are produced by hens. Keep reading to know more about how chicken eggs get fertilized.

During mating, the rooster’s role is to put its sperm into the hen’s cloaca in order to fertilize the egg. Fertilization is a more complicated process than this simple synopsis suggests. 

The rooster’s sperm travels a long way within the hen before arriving at the eggs to fertilize them. In their internal sperm storage glands, hens may hold onto their sperm for a maximum of two weeks. 

Just before a chicken lays an egg, the egg presses against these sperm storage glands, releasing some sperm back into the reproductive system.

The sperm cannot fertilize the egg because of the protective shell around it. Rather, the sperm must go all the way to female oviducts. 

The hen’s nest egg and the rooster’s sperm will meet here. The protective shell that ovulates eggs inside the oviduct has not yet grown to keep sperm out. This egg will become a newborn chick with the sperm’s assistance.

Fertilized vs. Non-fertile

For an egg to be fertilized, the rooster needs to be present. The chickens that produce the eggs you buy at the grocery store are usually raised without the presence of a rooster. 

In egg farms where eggs are produced for human consumption rather than for incubation, roosters are not required. At unique farms known as breeder farms, where roosters coexist with the hens, eggs are raised for incubation.

Next time you crack an egg open, search for the germinal disc. You’ll discover that eggs from the grocery are sterile.

Did you know that examining the germ spot on an egg can reveal whether or not it is fertile? The white area on the yolk is known as the germ spot. The non-fertile germ spot appears as a solid white area and exclusively includes the cells of the female. 

Both the male and female cells are found in the germ spot of a viable egg. This permits cell division, causing the spot to develop as the female’s oviduct builds the remainder of the egg.

The fertile germ spot on the yolk appears as a circle with a relatively transparent center as a result of its expansion.

READ ALSO!!!

Can I Eat Fertilized Chicken Eggs?

For decades, farm families have been consuming fertilized chicken eggs since roosters are necessary for both flock protection and flock perpetuation after older hens stop laying.

Both the flavor and nutritional value of fertilized eggs are the same. The fertilized eggs are identical except for the presence of a small amount of rooster DNA.

How  Can I Tell if My Chicken Eggs are Fertile?

On the outside, fertilized eggs resemble unfertilized eggs exactly. Inside, fertilized eggs likewise resemble unfertilized eggs, with the exception of a white bullseye on the yolk. 

The germinal disc, a tiny, white dot that allows sperm to penetrate the yolk of unfertilized eggs, is all that is visible on the yolk.

How Long Will a Hen Continue to Lay Fertilized Eggs?

When you combine a hen with a rooster, her eggs should become fertile on the second day. After a hen and rooster ‘hook up’ and perform the sexual act, the rooster’s sperm is retained in the hen’s oviduct, and the hen will most likely continue to lay fertile eggs for up to two weeks.

That means that a sizable portion of the eggs you gather are probably viable if your flock includes a rooster.

How Long to Produce Fertile Eggs?

Fertile eggs can be laid by a sexually active rooster inside a flock of hens by the second day following the rooster’s introduction. The hen’s body can fertilize the next egg yolk it releases if mating happens quickly. 

It takes roughly 26 to 28 hours for the remaining albumen and shell to develop around the fertilized yolk. Thus, in order to generate a hatchable egg, at least thirty to thirty-six hours are required.

It can take several days for all of the hens in the flock to mate if there are many chickens and only one rooster.

It is best to give yourself at least 4–7 days before anticipating high egg fertility. The waiting period may need to be extended if the hen or rooster is a year old or older.

READ ALSO!!!

How Does the Rooster Fertilize the Egg?

The hen and the rooster must act differently as they lack genitals, which means they have neither a penis nor a vagina.

By hopping on her back, dropping his tail, and touching her cloaca with his, a rooster inseminates a hen with his sperm.

This is referred to as the “cloacal kiss,” as we previously discussed. The papilla is a little elevated protrusion located inside his cloaca. 

The sperm pass through the papilla. In order for his sperm to reach the unlaid or unborn eggs, the hen must open her cloaca during this “cloacal kiss.” following the passage of his sperm.

Bottom Line

When hen eggs are placed without the presence of a rooster, they typically do not become fertilized. A hen requires a rooster to fertilize her eggs. 

Fertilized eggs are the fruit of a rooster and hen mating. You will need a rooster to make sure that your hens and rooster are mating if you want to increase or maintain the size of your flock or if you want to sell fertile eggs.

Similar Posts