[paul.fr]

A friend, who i have no reason to doubt, said that he mistakenly left some eggs "out back" when it was hot last week. A few days later when he rememberd them, he took them inside, and upon cracking one open. He said there were magots inside! Is that possible?

[another_someone]

If there was no prior damage to the shell of the eggs, I would have been surprised that the maggots could have gotten through the shell.  If the shells were already cracked, then I could not discount the possibility (but maybe someone will come along and say that eggs have some toxicity for maggots - if that is so, then I will have learnt something).

[kdlynn]

not that i'd want to if i were in that situation, but did he check all of the eggs? or was it just one? either way, ew!

[paul.fr]

eggs shells are porous, could this be how the maggots got in?

[RD]

The maggot eggs could have been present before the shell formed, (vertical transmission).

[neilep]

...........or they could just be ginormous Maggot Eggs in their own right !!

It happens you know ?

[Karen W.]

LOL.. That is odd though! I have raised thousands of chickens. I have never seen that! Rotten yes double yolk yes formed chicks yes..Not maggots.. YUCKY!

[moonfire]

I haven't either...hmmm, interesting..

[another_someone]

The maggot eggs could have been present before the shell formed, (vertical transmission).

Maggots are larvae - are you suggesting that the flys that laid them were living inside the adult chicken?

[another_someone]

eggs shells are porous, could this be how the maggots got in?

Porous to water and air, but the eggs from which the maggots were born would be somewhat larger.

[RD]

The maggot eggs could have been present before the shell formed, (vertical transmission).

Maggots are larvae - are you suggesting that the flys that laid them were living inside the adult chicken?

The maggot eggs could have been ingested by the chicken, e.g. fecal-oral transmission, then transmitted vertically.

It is possible that the parasites were wrongly identified as maggots, but were actually worms.

[another_someone]

The maggot eggs could have been ingested by the chicken, e.g. fecal-oral transmission, then transmitted vertically.

How well do maggots tolerate passing through the gut of a live chicken?

Would not the maggot have to somehow pass from the bowels to the reproductive system of the chicken?

It is possible that the parasites were wrongly identified as maggots, but were actually worms.

This sound like a plausible option - although that still leaves the question as to what kind of worms could perform such a feat.

[Seany]

You can get tiny maggots. 1-2mm in width.. Like woodworms or something, they may have made a hole in the egg and gone in. Since the hole is so small, he may not have seen it. But I'm not sure whether maggots have the ability to piece a hole through egg shell, like woodworms through wood?

[paul.fr]

You can get tiny maggots. 1-2mm in width.. Like woodworms or something, they may have made a hole in the egg and gone in. Since the hole is so small, he may not have seen it. But I'm not sure whether maggots have the ability to piece a hole through egg shell, like woodworms through wood?

Seany, i posted a experiment here http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=6730.msg85263#msg85263 , i dont think the holes in the egg are large enough for those tiny maggots.

[Seany]

I'm not understanding you. If you the maggots/woodworms made the hole.. Dug the hole basically, how would they not be large enough for them to go through?

[paul.fr]

I'm not understanding you. If you the maggots/woodworms made the hole.. Dug the hole basically, how would they not be large enough for them to go through?

sorry i thought you meant that the holes in the egg were big enough, in the first place. Not that they dug their way in.

[Seany]

Oh ok.. But I doubt it would be maggots if they dug their way in. Probably some other maggot like worm thing.