What happens when a hen lays on an unfertilized egg?

Answer 1

Female chickens of egg laying age produce eggs continuously until they "go off the lay" due to age, illness, stress or death. Only if mated with, and then not always, will these eggs become fertile.

Answer 2

The yolk, which is called an oocyte, is produced by the hens ovary in a process called ovulation. As the yolk is released into the oviduct it is fertilized by sperm deposited by the rooster up to 10 days prior to the ovulation. Eggs need not be fertilized to be produced so the process of an unfertilized egg is the same. Fertilized or not, that yolk continues down the oviduct and is covered by the vitelline membrane, structural fibers and albumen are all formed around the yolk in the magnus area of the oviduct.

As this forming egg continues its travel down the oviduct, it rotates continually within the spiraling tube (oviduct) and this movement twists the structural fibers forming rope like strands called chalazae. Two of these chalazae anchor the yolk in the very center of the clear albumen.

As this egg gets closer to the end of the oviduct, the egg shell begins forming. Calcite is deposited around the albumen and yolk and in some breeds, bile ducts deposit color, which is why the egg can be white, brown or even green or blue.

Once this is all done, the egg is laid by the hen through the cloaca also known as the vent.

This whole process takes about 24 hours.

Answer 3

nothing... the farmer will pick it up and ship to the grocery cause those are the eggs we eat

Sorry, but the egg will ferment, gasses will develop and it will pop!

The farmer does not pick them up and send them to the store and we eat them. The hens who lay eggs for the grocery store are kept in cages three to four in a cage. It is nasty. They NEVER sit on an egg, when it lays the egg, it rolls out of the cage on to a section of wire that the chickens can not reach. Do not start with cage free... Cage free means ONLY that they are not in a cage. They are not out in the open to eat grasses and bugs and have sunny days. They are often in damp dark dirty buildings... The best eggs are at your local farming area from someones back yard... Also; set a raw egg in a bowl of water. if the egg floats, it is BAD...

also, IF you get eggs from a farm, you can leave out in a basket on the counter,if you do NOT wash them.. IF they are washed they must go in the fridg!