Hatching store bought eggs~ Whole Foods vs. Trader Joes

[cluck-cluck]

But the fun of this is that you can get eggs from a grocery store and hatch them at home Anyway, we have 8 eggs developing out of 11. The others started, but died. (the 12th, I dropped while choosing them at Trader Joe's, LOL. They also had a rough start as I gave them to my chickens first for a couple of days because I thought one was broody. That didn't stick, so now they're in the incubator, except for 2 who are under my broody Seramas, which are doing a great job.

I put 12 regular grocery store eggs in the one coop hoping someone would get broody, so far, no dice. Although one sleeps on top of the eggs every night, she doesn't stay on them during the day. I'm still hoping she'll settle in before the eggs hatch because a mama hen raising the chicks is a hell of a lot easier than ME raising them! LOL.

Saturday completes week 2 I might put two more chicks under then seramas when they hatch as I have two broody hens

 

[cluck-cluck]

However, after learning so much this past year, I wouldn't do this again because the birds that laid the eggs may not have been given the best nutrition, etc... for laying hatching eggs and now I'd worry about hatching a bird that was not healthy, has leg issues or something else. However, the birds I did hatch ended up healthy and it was very fun

Yah, right, I'm at it again....

 

[Faraday40]

Is anyone still hatching store eggs?

I discovered this thread accidently but am intrigued. We built an incubator as a project this year & tested it our with some backyard eggs. My daughter talked me into adding a very large egg from the fridge. (I think she was hoping for a double yolk -twins.) I didn't think it had a chance after being in the fridge for 2 days. Instead of a tasty breakfast, we got "Omelet" a very friendly but kind of ugly chick. I see next year's project forming....

Interesting to see some action on this thread. My daughter fell in love with her "Omelet," and this funny-looking bird now lays funny-looking eggs. Kind of olive-brown colored. We rehomed most of her hatch results, but we allowed her to add a few chicks to our flock. DD ended up winning "Best in Show" for her 4H poultry science project (comparing hatch rates of shipped eggs vs. backyard eggs.) I was kind of hoping she'd try hatching store eggs as a project this year (less little peepers to rehome), but now she's now interested in experimenting with broody hens or moving on to turkeys. YIKES!





We have no idea what breeds are in Omelet. Dad was an EE who hatched from a pink egg, & Mom is a brown-egg-laying mutt. Both parents are golden brown, not black. At least one of them must have had a blue-green egg gene in the mix.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Wow, Omelet's egg is really cool! She's worth having just for those, LOL! I like her! If you can't slaughter, don't even try a turkey! They get so huge! LOL. Just saying... LOL.

We have a batch of Trader Joe eggs in the incubator right now. I dropped one, so we started with 11. I thought my hen was broody, so I left them in the nest box for a couple of nights, but she didn't stay on them, then I took two, put them under my Serama who is broody, and put the rest in the incubator. All but one are growing. The one died, and I got a blood ring. Good fertilization rate! LOL

Only one week to go!

 

[Faraday40]

Wow, Omelet's egg is really cool! She's worth having just for those, LOL! I like her! If you can't slaughter, don't even try a turkey! They get so huge! LOL. Just saying... LOL.

We have a batch of Trader Joe eggs in the incubator right now. I dropped one, so we started with 11. I thought my hen was broody, so I left them in the nest box for a couple of nights, but she didn't stay on them, then I took two, put them under my Serama who is broody, and put the rest in the incubator. All but one are growing. The one died, and I got a blood ring. Good fertilization rate! LOL

Only one week to go!

Thanks. Omelet is a sweet girl - just funny-looking.

I could possibly be swayed into keeping 2-3 turkeys, but DH doesn't like the idea. My biggest concern would be the flying. We've never clipped wings, but my jolly Orpingtons never leave the ground & the flock sticks together. A simple 4 ft fence keeps them all contained in the yard whether they can fly or not. A bigger bird will have more feed, more poop, & dig bigger holes in my flower beds. The neighbors love our chickens, but I don't know what they would say if they saw a giant bird sitting on top of our house! I'm pretty sure we're not ready for turkeys.

I haven't seen fertile eggs in our Trader Joe stores, but I did get a dozen local "farm fresh" brown eggs at a "Food For Less" store. At the time I needed a lot of eggs for my science class & didn't want to waste my own backyard eggs. They were supposed to be from a local farm. Again, I just wanted cheap brown eggs & these were on sale. As they cracked during the lab, I noticed some had bulls-eyes. When I read the packaging, they simply said the organic eggs were pasture-raised. I guess the farm had roos around on that pasture. They were not marked as being fertile. The normal cost for organic eggs would have been higher, but the sale made them equal to the commercial brands. So now I wonder if a farmers market would be a better place to buy eggs. I'm guessing the reduced shipping/handling may increase the hatch rate.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Possibly? Actually it should

 

[HerbGir1972]

Well looks like I'll be seeing whats going on with Trader Joe and visiting my local 2 whole foods stores. lookout peeps

 

[gimmie birdies]

omelete looks like a black star.

 

[Faraday40]

omelete looks like a black star.

Yes, I think Black Star or B.C. Marans might be in her mix. Here are her parents. Both chickens are so pretty & amazingly friendly. That's why I was so surprised that Omelete turned out so strange-looking. Dad = Easter Egger. Mom = Mutt???

 

[gimmie birdies]

wow!

This is my hen Georgia, her mom is BCM but her mom was white, and her dad was an Isbar.

Dad above and mom below.

If Georgia looks cold she was and is. I brought her in last night.

Georgia's egg was one of the dark ones, that she hatched from.