Fertilized egg but no rooster... anyone have explanations?

[Andalution]

Recently I found a developing egg buried in my some dirt in my backyard. I had no idea it was there and accidently speared it with my pitchfork when working to move the dirt. I have 4 hens and no rooster. I've never had any roosters and I've had the chickens since they were very young, so I cannot imagine where they would have been exposed to a rooster.
The egg was lighter colored then my hens usually lay. When I broke the egg open, there was blood/veins in it and I swear I saw a little head. I do not know how old the egg was, but it is worth noting that one of my hens went broody about 2 weeks ago.
There are no bird that live in my area who would lay an egg this large, so it must have been a chicken egg.
Can anyone help me? Is it at all possible that hens can self-fertilize?
Thanks!

 

[mortie]

No, hens cannot self-fertilize.

Do you have other sizable wild birds in your area? My neighbor recently found an egg in her yard that was similar in size to a chicken egg, but we have wild turkeys around here and it was a turkey egg.

 

[Andalution]

We have turkeys around us, but we have never seen them close to or in our yard. Also I believe turkey eggs are usually spotted or splotches and this one did not appear to be . Though it was in dirt so it may have been and would just be hard to tell. I don't know what a turkey's motivation to fly over our fence and lay in our yard would be since they don't usually stay around our house.

 

[mortie]

The turkey egg my friend found was not speckled.

Since chickens don't self-fertilize there are only a few possible explanations.

1. The egg wasn't really fertilized....maybe it was growing a science experiment inside from being out for a while. Did it smell?

if the egg was indeed for sure developing, we are down to these:

2. They somehow came in contact with a rooster that wandered into your yard, tagged your girls and then got away without you noticing.

3. A rogue chicken who has been exposed to a rooster wandered into your yard and laid an egg there.

4. It's not a chicken egg, but an egg from a wild bird of some sort.

I think #4 is the most likely myself.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might enjoy reading this article about parthenogenesis.

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/artic...-normal-fertilization-and-embryonic-mortality

What I suspect since it was a different color than your eggs is that it was laid by something else, maybe a turtle or a snake if not another bird. Who knows how it actually got there.

 

[Andalution]

Do turkeys usually lay just one egg and bury their eggs?

 

[mortie]

They usually lay their eggs in ground nests. Not usually buried.

 

[Lelilamom]

Sounds like a Turtle Egg. We have at least 5 nests in our backyard from snapping turtles. The eggs take 27 days to develop and hatch, and are buried in the dirt.

 

[Pilgrimmum]

Recently I found a developing egg buried in my some dirt in my backyard. I had no idea it was there and accidently speared it with my pitchfork when working to move the dirt. I have 4 hens and no rooster. I've never had any roosters and I've had the chickens since they were very young, so I cannot imagine where they would have been exposed to a rooster.
The egg was lighter colored then my hens usually lay. When I broke the egg open, there was blood/veins in it and I swear I saw a little head. I do not know how old the egg was, but it is worth noting that one of my hens went broody about 2 weeks ago.
There are no bird that live in my area who would lay an egg this large, so it must have been a chicken egg.
Can anyone help me? Is it at all possible that hens can self-fertilize?
Thanks!

Hi, its a rare occurrence and its called Parthogenesis, Greek for virgin birth. The offspring often have birth defects but may be normal and are always female only having the mothers chromosomes. Look it up.