Eggs: Why don’t birds need to breathe in them…..or do they?

We used to do that when we had our own backyard chickens, when we sent the children out to collect the eggs, sometimes an egg that had been “hidden” for a few months was gathered.

Having a rotten egg explode in the kitchen is not good, now we buy eggs and I havn’t had a bad one in 10yrs plus.

Thanks.Light bulb moment. Is that why I check if eggs are no longer fresh enough to use by putting them in water and if they float to the top I don’t use them? I can’t believe that I’ve never wondered about this before.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-chick-breathe-inside-shell/#:~:text=Directly%20under%20the%20chicken%20egg's,that%20is%20filled%20with%20oxygen.

This is how it's done.

It’s complicated but they do get oxygen through the shell, eggs need plenty of ventilation when they are incubated.

There is a cord to the yolk I think , that’s how they grow