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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you have ever seen this before?

50 replies

SidseBabettKnudsen · 09/01/2017 09:14

Baking a cake last night and cracked an egg - it was full of blood and had an embryo inside!

I'm 40 and have never ever seen this before and didn't even think it was possible as I didn't think egg laying hens could mix with cockerels on farms. The eggs were free range; I got them in Tescos.

Has anyone ever encountered this before? Not a big issue or anything I'm stressed about, I'm just curious to see if this is a common thing!

OP posts:
GreenTureen · 09/01/2017 09:23

I've never seen it but I think i'd probably be fascinated and grossed out in equal measure. And the poor chick!

I'm not sure if this is just one of those things that sometimes happens or if it's worth telling Tesco...just in case their supplier has a rogue cockeral amongst the hens that they're not aware of? Would they even do anything or just roll their eyes at you? [helpful]

Hardyloveit · 09/01/2017 09:27

This happens quite a bit. I'm surprised you haven't seen it before. I have had the red bit a few times. How big was the embryo? I wouldn't tell tesco if it was small though.

BusterGonad · 09/01/2017 09:32

I never had it and I've just googled it and wish I didn't, some people eat very weird food!

Weedsnseeds1 · 09/01/2017 10:03

It won't be an embryo. It's what is called a meat spot and is a yolk fault in eggs. They should be screened out on the candling machine on the egg grader, but the occasional one gets through if e.g. the Shell is dark so the machine doesn't read it well. All male chicks are removed at the hatchery before they go to the laying farms, they are easy to identify as we like brown shells in the UK and this is a sex linked gene, so females are brown and males yellow.

Daisyfrumps · 09/01/2017 10:09

full of blood doesn't sound like a meat spot?

Daisyfrumps · 09/01/2017 10:11

Imagine if you'd hard boiled it OP!

SparklyMagpie · 09/01/2017 10:14

Ohhh gosh, have to admit I'm clueless but if it was full of blood? Doesn't sound like a meat spot?

I think I would contact tesco, but not sure what they could do really Confused

Haha not much help at all, sorry OP

Original poster
SidseBabettKnudsen · 09/01/2017 10:15

I have seen spots before - this was way more than that and as I said the whole egg was filled with blood.

Thought about googling but didn't want to see any photos so glad I didn't!

OP posts:
rollonthesummer · 09/01/2017 10:17

Nope-I have never seen that before and I eat quite a lot of eggs!

Original poster
SidseBabettKnudsen · 09/01/2017 10:18

Oh Jesus, hadn't even thought about the implications of hard boiling it!!

I thought about telling Tescos, but it wasn't their own brand, it was a locally sourced farm brand and I don't know what they could do. I will get another brand in future I think, just to be on the safe side. I will never crack an egg without a certain sense of trepidation though!

OP posts:
Daisyfrumps · 09/01/2017 10:19

A rogue cock is on the loose somewhere!

Aspiringcatlady · 09/01/2017 10:19

Well I was going to make an omelette for lunch later but think I have changed my mind Grin

Daisyfrumps · 09/01/2017 10:20

I imagine this must be super rare...

VQ1970 · 09/01/2017 10:28

I've had something similar. We had a bad smell in the cupboard and eventually tracked it down to an egg, there was a rotting embryo (or something) in the shell. It was rank!

joystir59 · 09/01/2017 10:30

On the free range farm they must have cockerels. We used to keep chickens and a cockerel, and it is very important to remove eggs quickly from the laying boxes, otherwise a broody hen can start to sit on the eggs and if they have been fertilised an embryo will start to form. I had to throw lots of eggs away when we had a very persistent and broody chicken. It is horrible to crack an egg and find a partially formed chick inside.

ZippyNeedsFeeding · 09/01/2017 10:30

It is very rare and there must be a cockerel on the loose somewhere. If it's any comfort, the embryo wouldn't have survived the egg being chilled, so breaking the egg isn't what killed it.
If you can, it might be worth contacting the farm to let them know. If it happens again and the customer complains to Tesco it could cost them a lot of money.

scampimom · 09/01/2017 10:37

Oh blarrrrrrggggghhhhH!!!!! I don't think I can eat an egg again for the rest of my life. I have a massive attack of the heeby jeebies!

Serin · 09/01/2017 10:39

I have seen this a few times when I was a kid on Grannie's farm in Ireland. She was non too hot on removing the cockerels Hmm

Put me off eggs for years.

blitheringbuzzards1234 · 09/01/2017 10:39

I eat a lot of but have never seen this, maybe the odd blood spot but that's it. This sounds really horrible and rather off-putting. Shock

When we were kids we saw a picture in a book of a little embryo in an egg at different stages of its development which made us ask Mum if this meant that every egg we ate was really a little chick and she replied. "Yes I suppose it is really". We felt a bit grossed out but soon got over it and continued to eat them.

I've a dozen eggs in the fridge at the moment and I must brace myself.

Papergirl1968 · 09/01/2017 10:39

Was in the Daily Mail online a couple of days ago about a woman in Sweden hatching a chick from a box of eggs bought from her local shop. I can't do links but if you google Daily Mail online hatch egg it should bring it up.
I always dread finding an embryo in an egg!

EssentialHummus · 09/01/2017 10:42

That's terrible. This is a delicacy somewhere but I'm not in the mood to Google!

BreconBeBuggered · 09/01/2017 10:43

This is why I can never eat things that are just made with eggs. I can blot it out in a sponge, but the possibility of encountering this when I fancy a boiled egg puts me off completely.

kaelea · 09/01/2017 10:50

Once, I was baking with a friend, cracked an egg and there was a half developed chick, oh it was dreadful, thankfully my friend is made of sterner stuff than me, she dealt with it while I nearly passed out lol

Now I always crack eggs into a mug first before I do whatever I'm doing with them

anonymice · 09/01/2017 10:50

Used to be quite common years ago. Have seen it once when I was very small.

Titsalinabumsquash · 09/01/2017 10:54

In Korea I think it is (might be wrong on the country) they eat ducklings before they hatch, it's fucking disgusting.

The red spots you sometimes get in eggs aren't from where it was fertile. It's an error that occurred when forming the egg inside the hen.

You can tell if an egg is fertile because there is a feint white spot in the yolk, a fertile egg with have a bullseye type ring around the white spot and an infertile one won't.