Experienced Trader Joe hatchers

For the Valentine's Day hatch I decided to experiment with a couple of dozen grocery store eggs. One dozen turned out to not even be fertile, so they're a non-issue.

I do have a question for you experienced hatchers about the Trader Joe fertile eggs. I wasn't sure about how old they were when I bought them, there was no pack or Julian date on the carton. They just had an "enjoy by" date that was about a month out, so I assumed they were fairly fresh. I let the eggs sit at room temperature in my turner for 24 hours before they were set. They all started to develop and at 4-5 days had very good veining. At about the mid-point, a couple quit and I pulled them today (day 18) for lockdown. I opened those two eggs and the chick inside was about an inch and a half long.

My question is about the eggs I put into lockdown. The air cell looks normal, the same size as the eggs from my flock and what I expected. The chicks inside are very active and I can clearly see them, legs, feet/claws, etc. My question is, they seem much smaller inside than my own eggs. I don't know if this is because they were slowed down by the refrigeration or if the egg itself was just much larger than my own.

The chicks in my eggs appear to nearly fill the egg, the TJ eggs are probably only 2/3 of the egg (not counting the air cell).

Will the TJ eggs just hatch much later? Will they drown? Will they be deformed? Will they quit?

Just wondered if anyone with more hatching experience (this is only my second time) will have a better idea of what I should expect.

Thanks,
Deb

Well, I've never hatched TJ eggs, but eggs that were stored longer and cooler usualy hatch smaller. There should be no deformities, I've hatched eggs 15 days old, they'l be ok .Good luck

Thanks, I was just concerned that the chicks appear so small inside the shell.

Deb

Oh my I can't wait to hear what happens. I hope all the chicks make it. Please keep us updated.

TJ's eggs I've hatched have been White Leghorns, which are one of the layer breeds and much smaller than my dual-purpose birds. They lay very large eggs once they mature. I didn't notice the size of the unhatched chick in the egg because I seldom candle eggs, even at lock-down. The newly-hatched WL chicks seemed "scrawny" to me, compared to the dual purpose breed chicks hatching right next to them.

Thanks Linda.

They seem so vigorous and lively I was hoping every was okay with them. My campines are quite a small breed of chicken, their eggs run around 54 grams, so they classify as large. This is my second time to hatch them and they fill the egg, so I was worried about my little grocery store chicks.

Thanks again.

Deb

Edited to add - I was quite spoiled with the TJ eggs. With the white shell and huge egg, it was so simple to hold my candler to the top of each egg without even having to lift them from the turner. It let me do a quick check as often as I wanted when I would open the incubator to hand turn the extra eggs I had tucked along the front edge.

Look at the 3 digit number stamped on the carton. Mine said 014 so that was January 14th (the 14th day of the year).

Out of 12 set I had 7 at lock down. 1 has hatched, 4 have pipped and the other 2 I'm just waiting to see what happens.

Sherrie

eta: I'm on day 21

SherrieT said:

Look at the 3 digit number stamped on the carton. Mine said 014 so that was January 14th (the 14th day of the year).

Out of 12 set I had 7 at lock down. 1 has hatched, 4 have pipped and the other 2 I'm just waiting to see what happens.

Sherrie

eta: I'm on day 21

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Dang, I could have sworn I had thoroughly searched the carton for the Julian date. Now I go back and look again and see the eggs were five days old when I set them. So I assume they were washed and chilled for four days.

Thanks Sherrie,
Deb

I'm the mommy of 4 TJ chicks!

Two have pipped!

Deb