Fertilized eggs but no rooster??

[Kgtx]

We have 8 pullets/hens in our backyard, 5-8 months old. Everyone except a black austrolorp is laying, but I cracked eggs this morning and two (the ones on the bottom) look fertilized. Am I crazy? First-time chicken owner here so still learning the ropes! Any idea what is happening?

 

[DobieLover]

Those eggs are not fertile.
If they were, there would be a ring around the dot. Often referred to as a bullseye.

 

[Kgtx]

Those eggs are not fertile.
If they were, there would be a ring around the dot. Often referred to as a bullseye.

Thank you!!

 

[TOMTE]

Ring around the dot doesn't always mean fertile, either. Some of our only laying pullet's eggs have had the bullseye— we don't have a rooster.

Parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) is a thing, but it's very rare, and PG chicks generally don't survive more than a week or so.

 

[TOMTE]

PG chicks generally don't survive more than a week or so

Well, this was from just one study, I think. Doing some more looking. I've also read most PG chicks hatch male. Cool stuff!

 

[MysteryChicken]

We have 8 pullets/hens in our backyard, 5-8 months old. Everyone except a black austrolorp is laying, but I cracked eggs this morning and two (the ones on the bottom) look fertilized. Am I crazy? First-time chicken owner here so still learning the ropes! Any idea what is happening?View attachment 4036463

They are Fertile eggs, but not Fertilized.

Next eggs I get I'll get pictures to show the differences. But hopefully before we move.

 

[TOMTE]

They are Fertile eggs, but not Fertilized.

Next eggs I get I'll get pictures to show the differences. But hopefully before we move.

PG eggs then? Or no? I wonder if the eggs with bullseyes that my girl laid were fertile, then

 

[NatJ]

They are Fertile eggs, but not Fertilized.

What is the difference?

Don't both words mean a sperm cell from a rooster joined with an egg cell from the hen before the egg shell got put on and the egg was laid?

 

[tlcmurphy]

What is the difference?

Don't both words mean a sperm cell from a rooster joined with an egg cell from the hen before the egg shell got put on and the egg was laid?

Fertile means capable of being fertilized

 

[TOMTE]

What is the difference?

Don't both words mean a sperm cell from a rooster joined with an egg cell from the hen before the egg shell got put on and the egg was laid?

From google: "A "fertile" chicken egg means it has the potential to develop into a chick because it has been fertilized by a rooster, while a "fertilized" chicken egg specifically refers to an egg where the sperm from a rooster has successfully fused with the egg cell, initiating the development of an embryo inside the egg; essentially, a fertilized egg is a fertile egg where the fertilization process has already occurred."

So fertilized is just fertile but taken to the next step of development.