Mystery Resolved : EGG = VEG/ Non VEG ?

So, What is the most discussed argument involving the subjects of Egg and Chicken? Yes, You are correct: It is the one where the awakened minds try to find out: “Who came first? Egg or Chicken”. And what is the next most discussed argument after that? Again, You got that correct, It is “Is Egg vegetarian or Non-Vegetarian”.

Vegetarians have included eggs in their diet and have claimed it to be vegetarian, but since it comes from hen, Non-Vegetarians are adamant and have claimed the eggs to be a part of their food territory. So, this article comes as a rescue for the nonending argument. Only scientific facts have been included so that no point of fiction or self-analysis comes into the picture.

Before you find out, that if the abundant source of protein (EGG) is EGG-exactly vegetarian or not. I would like you to understand what egg-exactly is an egg and its structure of it. Click here to understand the anatomy of the egg.

The disc of the egg, also called the germ spot, is the reproductive nucleus of it.  Along with the yolk material, it is enclosed in the vitelline membrane. The disc is located on the surface of the yolk, immediately under this membrane. When an egg is broken and its content emptied, it is seen as a whitish spot usually on the upper surface of the yolk. Its size in a newly-laid egg varies depending upon whether the egg is infertile or fertile.

The hen's egg is a specialized structure wherein the development of the embryo takes place outside the body of the hen. Nature has made provision for sufficient food material in the egg itself to meet the nutritional requirements of the growing embryo. The egg thus protects and provides a complete diet for the developing embryo and supplies nutritious food for the hatched chicks for the first few days of their life.

So, there are two types of eggs, which are mentioned below:

• Infertile eggs and 

• Fertile eggs

The egg laid by the hen may be fertile or infertile, depending on whether the hen had been mated with a cock.

Infertile eggs:

In infertile eggs, the female reproductive nucleus is not fertilized by union with the sperm of the cock. These are incapable of producing chicks and are called ‘lifeless' eggs. In an infertile egg, no development of the germinal disc takes place even under the optimum incubation conditions.

If infertile eggs are to be produced, the male birds should not be kept with the laying hens and also the hens should not be inseminated artificially. Sometimes even when the laying hens are mated or are artificially inseminated, a small percentage of the eggs laid may be infertile.

So, these are those eggs that are termed, vegetarians.

Fertile eggs

Infertile eggs, the reproductive nucleus is fertilized by union with the sperm of the cock. This fertilization takes place about 25 hours before the eggs are laid. Soon after the fertilization, the reproductive nucleus begins to develop, and by meantime, the egg is laid, some development has already taken place. Therefore, the size of the germinal disc in a fertile egg is bigger than that in an infertile egg.