Is it true that eggs are unfertilized babies?!
is it true that eggs ( the ones we eat) are babys that are not born yet thats why only female hens lay them!? basically what i'm asking is are eggs babies that haven't been activated by sperm yet!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!?!?!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
Yes, they are!!!Www@FoodAQ@Com
An egg is a single cell!. Just like in a human, that egg cell must be fertilized by a sperm cell in order to grow into a baby!. If there's no sperm present, which there is not in an egg-laying operation, the eggs laid are unfertilized!. They are not unfertilized *babies,* they are unfertilized *cells!.* This is similiar to when a girl or a woman has her period; the egg she released that month didn't get fertilized, there is no potential baby and the egg is flushed out of her system!.
There are very valid reasons not to eat eggs, based on the treatment of the hens who lay them and based on the wholesale slaughter of male chicks!. But worrying about eating a potential life is not really a good reason not to eat eggs; if no rooster is present, then that egg would never have become a chick no matter what!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
There are very valid reasons not to eat eggs, based on the treatment of the hens who lay them and based on the wholesale slaughter of male chicks!. But worrying about eating a potential life is not really a good reason not to eat eggs; if no rooster is present, then that egg would never have become a chick no matter what!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
There appears to be some confusion in your terminology!.
Eggs are not babies that "haven't been activated"
Unfertilised eggs are not, and never will be, capable of producing life!.
They are broadly similar to menstrual waste, but only broadly as hens are birds, not mammals!.
If you are concerned about eggs, i would say be more concerned about the way hens are treated!.
I hope people don't mind but here are a few corrections:
Candling is not done in commercial egg farms!. That is impractical!.
Hens do not sit on eggs for a few days and then discard them!. Hens will disgard eggs immediately if they are not broody!. They go brood for about 28 days, normally once a year!. Hybrid hens ( a cross between roade island reds and sussex ) are used for commercial egg laying and they are not very good "sitters" and rarely go broady!.
A cockeral fertilises a hen by treading her and "joining vents"!. The sperm is retained in the hen and can fertilse about the following 10 eggs!.
Broody hens are not used in commercial farms for incubation!. This is done entirely in mechinised incubators - they are a bit like large heaters and rotate the eggs automatically each day to simulat the hen moving the eggs!. Many incubators also act as hatcherys!.
Here is an example of a small commercial incubator for hatching 10,000 eggs at a time:
http://www!.banburycrossincubators!.com/ep!.!.!.
Hybrids have been selectively bred so that most are female!. However there are some males - about 20% - and these are all killed once they can be sexed ( about 1 week old ) They are never kept for meat as the egg-laying hybrid breeds do not have enough meat to be table birds!. They may go into animal foods as mechanically recovered meat, but not the human food chain!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Eggs are not babies that "haven't been activated"
Unfertilised eggs are not, and never will be, capable of producing life!.
They are broadly similar to menstrual waste, but only broadly as hens are birds, not mammals!.
If you are concerned about eggs, i would say be more concerned about the way hens are treated!.
I hope people don't mind but here are a few corrections:
Candling is not done in commercial egg farms!. That is impractical!.
Hens do not sit on eggs for a few days and then discard them!. Hens will disgard eggs immediately if they are not broody!. They go brood for about 28 days, normally once a year!. Hybrid hens ( a cross between roade island reds and sussex ) are used for commercial egg laying and they are not very good "sitters" and rarely go broady!.
A cockeral fertilises a hen by treading her and "joining vents"!. The sperm is retained in the hen and can fertilse about the following 10 eggs!.
Broody hens are not used in commercial farms for incubation!. This is done entirely in mechinised incubators - they are a bit like large heaters and rotate the eggs automatically each day to simulat the hen moving the eggs!. Many incubators also act as hatcherys!.
Here is an example of a small commercial incubator for hatching 10,000 eggs at a time:
http://www!.banburycrossincubators!.com/ep!.!.!.
Hybrids have been selectively bred so that most are female!. However there are some males - about 20% - and these are all killed once they can be sexed ( about 1 week old ) They are never kept for meat as the egg-laying hybrid breeds do not have enough meat to be table birds!. They may go into animal foods as mechanically recovered meat, but not the human food chain!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Eggs produced in an egg farm are generally not fertilized as the hens are kept separate from the roosters!. The egg you eat would not have turned into a chick had you not eaten it!. Then hen might have sat on it for a few days and then discarded it because it's infertile!.
Large commercial farms though do need to keep plenty of fresh hens growing, so they do have a bunch of breeder hens that they incubate eggs from!. When the eggs hatch, the male chickens are discarded if the egg farm doesn't have a meat program!.!.
If that bothers you, you may be able to find a small local farm with free roam hens to buy eggs from!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Large commercial farms though do need to keep plenty of fresh hens growing, so they do have a bunch of breeder hens that they incubate eggs from!. When the eggs hatch, the male chickens are discarded if the egg farm doesn't have a meat program!.!.
If that bothers you, you may be able to find a small local farm with free roam hens to buy eggs from!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
An egg had the potential for life if it had of been fertilized by a cock (male bird)- and sat on for warmth over a long period of time to allow for warmth and production!. It's a bit like us producing eggs every month but not always wanting them to be fertilized for new life!. Chickens don't have the capability to produce chicks of every egg they layed - it's as if nature allowed 90% extra for the food chain of other animals!.
But yes only female chickens can lay eggs!.
So, thy to look at it in another way!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
But yes only female chickens can lay eggs!.
So, thy to look at it in another way!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
it can NOT be a life or a "Baby" WITHOUT the fertilization by sperm!.
once the egg is laid, unfertilized (which most commerciali eggs are) NOTHING will turn that egg into a baby!.!.
so it is very different than meat as it is not a life!.
life requires egg AND sperm
Just like the eggs you shed every month!. aRe those all miscarriages!? No!.!. they are not babies!.!.
but once you have sex and the egg is fertilized it IS a life, and abortion is murder!.!.
but a virgin shedding an egg every month is neither abortion, murder, or miscarriage!.!. the egg is not a life without sperm!.
same with chicken eggs!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
once the egg is laid, unfertilized (which most commerciali eggs are) NOTHING will turn that egg into a baby!.!.
so it is very different than meat as it is not a life!.
life requires egg AND sperm
Just like the eggs you shed every month!. aRe those all miscarriages!? No!.!. they are not babies!.!.
but once you have sex and the egg is fertilized it IS a life, and abortion is murder!.!.
but a virgin shedding an egg every month is neither abortion, murder, or miscarriage!.!. the egg is not a life without sperm!.
same with chicken eggs!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
How old are you!? Some biology:
Egg+sperm=BABY
But I wouldn't go all, OMG, I'M EATING A BABY
think about it, when a woman menstruates, she's basically doing the same thing as a chicken, getting rid of an unfertilized egg!. A sperm does not activate an egg, it is an equal contributor to genetic material!. Activation implies a complete entity with only a slight modification, like with protein activation, but a haploid thingy will never be a baby!. For a while, that was my justification for eating eggs, I don't get teary eyed over my menses blood, I get annoyed by it!. However, I gave up eggs because of the manner in which it is harvested, and I didn't like the taste (and it's only in baked goods=junk anyway)
If you're going to be caught up in biology, then there's also milk to consider!. It's the MODIFIED SWEAT GLANDS of a DIFFERENT SPECIES!. We're the only species that does this (cats sponge off of us, they don't do this in the wild)!.
Seeds, OMG, they're, like, a baby plant!
ETA: Digsby, are you aware of the double entendre!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Egg+sperm=BABY
But I wouldn't go all, OMG, I'M EATING A BABY
think about it, when a woman menstruates, she's basically doing the same thing as a chicken, getting rid of an unfertilized egg!. A sperm does not activate an egg, it is an equal contributor to genetic material!. Activation implies a complete entity with only a slight modification, like with protein activation, but a haploid thingy will never be a baby!. For a while, that was my justification for eating eggs, I don't get teary eyed over my menses blood, I get annoyed by it!. However, I gave up eggs because of the manner in which it is harvested, and I didn't like the taste (and it's only in baked goods=junk anyway)
If you're going to be caught up in biology, then there's also milk to consider!. It's the MODIFIED SWEAT GLANDS of a DIFFERENT SPECIES!. We're the only species that does this (cats sponge off of us, they don't do this in the wild)!.
Seeds, OMG, they're, like, a baby plant!
ETA: Digsby, are you aware of the double entendre!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Yes!. And if they have a little red dot in them then they are fertilized!.
Most of those get caught during candling, but i still get one now and then!.
An egg does not have to fertilized when it is laid!. How about in vitro fertilization!?
Any egg has the potential to be fertilized, "test tube" babies!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Most of those get caught during candling, but i still get one now and then!.
An egg does not have to fertilized when it is laid!. How about in vitro fertilization!?
Any egg has the potential to be fertilized, "test tube" babies!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
No, they are eggs, hence the fact that female chickens produce them and only when fertilized and incubated could they become chicken (more food)!. Your female body discharges an egg each month, do you think of that as a baby!?!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Well!.!.!.since you can't get a baby from an unfertilized egg then the answer is no!.!.there is no baby chick nor can they ever be once they are taken from the hen's nest!. The eggs you buy at the supermarket are no where near being a chick!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
eggs are babies that have not hatched yetWww@FoodAQ@Com
no no noWww@FoodAQ@Com
yeah!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
When you say;
"basically what i'm asking is are eggs babies that haven't been activated by sperm yet!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!?!?!?"
in a way yes, the egg was a potential baby that was never fertilised and never will be!. But the word "yet" is misleading!. In order for it to be a chick it needs to be fertilised before the shell is formed!. Once an unfertilised egg has been laid there is no way it can become a baby chicken!. If the female hen never meets a male all her eggs will be unfertilised!. Most egg laying hens kept to provide eggs for food are never allowed contact with a cockerel only those who are going to be used to breed more egg laying hens and those who are used to breed hens for meat (which are actually a different type of hen to the egg providers they are bred to provide tender flesh rather than for their egg laying capabilities)!.
The Formation of an Egg:
The Yolk: The chicken egg starts as an egg yolk inside a hen!. A yolk (called an oocyte at this point) is produced by the hen's ovary in a process called ovulation!.
Fertilisation: The yolk is released into the oviduct (a long, spiraling tube in the hen's reproductive system), where it can be fertilized internally (inside the hen) by a sperm!.
The Egg White (albumin): The yolk continues down the oviduct (whether or not it is fertilized) and is covered with a membrane (called the vitelline membrane), structural fibers, and layers of albumin (the egg white)!. This part of the oviduct is called the magnus!.
The Chalazae: As the egg goes down through the oviduct, it is continually rotating within the spiraling tube!. This movement twists the structural fibers (called the chalazae), which form rope-like strands that anchor the yolk in the thick egg white!. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk, on opposite ends of the egg!.
The Eggshell: The eggshell is deposited around the egg in the lower part of the oviduct of the hen, just before it is laid!. The shell is made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate!.
This entire trip through the oviduct takes about one day!.
Growth of the Embryo: The fertilised blastodisc (now called the blastoderm) grows and becomes the embryo!. As the embryo grows, its primary food source is the yolk!. Waste products (like urea) collect in a sack called the allantois!. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas occurs through the eggshell; the chorion lines the inside surface of the egg and is connected to the blood vessels of the embryo!.
The Incubation Period: The embryo develops inside the egg for 21 days (the incubation period), until a chick pecks its way out of its eggshell and is hatched!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
"basically what i'm asking is are eggs babies that haven't been activated by sperm yet!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!?!?!?"
in a way yes, the egg was a potential baby that was never fertilised and never will be!. But the word "yet" is misleading!. In order for it to be a chick it needs to be fertilised before the shell is formed!. Once an unfertilised egg has been laid there is no way it can become a baby chicken!. If the female hen never meets a male all her eggs will be unfertilised!. Most egg laying hens kept to provide eggs for food are never allowed contact with a cockerel only those who are going to be used to breed more egg laying hens and those who are used to breed hens for meat (which are actually a different type of hen to the egg providers they are bred to provide tender flesh rather than for their egg laying capabilities)!.
The Formation of an Egg:
The Yolk: The chicken egg starts as an egg yolk inside a hen!. A yolk (called an oocyte at this point) is produced by the hen's ovary in a process called ovulation!.
Fertilisation: The yolk is released into the oviduct (a long, spiraling tube in the hen's reproductive system), where it can be fertilized internally (inside the hen) by a sperm!.
The Egg White (albumin): The yolk continues down the oviduct (whether or not it is fertilized) and is covered with a membrane (called the vitelline membrane), structural fibers, and layers of albumin (the egg white)!. This part of the oviduct is called the magnus!.
The Chalazae: As the egg goes down through the oviduct, it is continually rotating within the spiraling tube!. This movement twists the structural fibers (called the chalazae), which form rope-like strands that anchor the yolk in the thick egg white!. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk, on opposite ends of the egg!.
The Eggshell: The eggshell is deposited around the egg in the lower part of the oviduct of the hen, just before it is laid!. The shell is made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate!.
This entire trip through the oviduct takes about one day!.
Growth of the Embryo: The fertilised blastodisc (now called the blastoderm) grows and becomes the embryo!. As the embryo grows, its primary food source is the yolk!. Waste products (like urea) collect in a sack called the allantois!. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas occurs through the eggshell; the chorion lines the inside surface of the egg and is connected to the blood vessels of the embryo!.
The Incubation Period: The embryo develops inside the egg for 21 days (the incubation period), until a chick pecks its way out of its eggshell and is hatched!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Yes, eggs are essentially unfertilized babies!. Everytime someone eats an egg, you are basically eating an aborted chicken!.Www@FoodAQ@Com