Editing Egg

{{Quality|Exceptional|00:29, 29 September 2013 (UTC)}}

{{av}}{{catbox|DF2014:Egglaying}}

'''Eggs''' are laid by creatures with the {{token|LAYS_EGGS|c}} token, or grown by [[feather tree]]s.  This includes ordinary fowl and reptiles, and also some more exotic creatures such as [[giant eagle]]s, [[dragon]]s, [[kobold]]s, and many others.  Eggs can be used by dwarves as [[food]], or they can be hatched. Eggs can only be eaten raw if at least one of their component materials (yolk, white, or shell) is edible raw; otherwise, they have to be cooked into prepared meals first.

Hatching eggs requires that the dwarves are prevented from removing the eggs (and mother) from the nest box until they have a chance to hatch. This can be done by placing the nest box behind a locked [[door]] or by [[forbid]]ding the eggs in the nest box. Forbidding eggs on the [[menu#Kitchen Screen|kitchen menu]] will ''not'' prevent dwarves from removing them from the nest box — it will only prevent them from being cooked. Similarly, modifying all [[stockpile]]s to disallow eggs will prevent hauling jobs, however the eggs remain available for [[cook]]ing and eating. It is sometimes possible to remove the mother briefly or near the end of gestation, and have the eggs still hatch (shown with both sentients and livestock). However, for elk bird feeding it is recommended to use chains and animal caretakers instead.

Eggs may be fertilized when laid, or they may not be. In order for eggs to be fertilized, a male of the species must be present (though this does not always ''guarantee'' fertilization). Unlike in previous versions of ''Dwarf Fortress'', the male must have spent time with the female to fertilize their seed pouch (the male need not be ''alive'' at the time of egglaying, however). One fertilization provides seed for two egglayings, but in practice the first tends to bring the population over the pet cap. Depending on the animal, fertilization chances seem to differ. {{verify}} If the creature is sapient (has any of the {{token|INTELLIGENT|c}}, {{token|CAN_LEARN|c}} or {{token|CAN_SPEAK|c}} tokens), then the egg-laying female must also be married in order for her eggs to be fertilized, and she must also have spent time with her husband. (In short, egg fertilization has the same conditions as normal impregnation in the game.)