Kids Trader Joe's eggs hatched! - Update on Joey on post #147

Date sort Score sort
 
Just watched your video on you tube about Joey's first year, very cool!
smile.png
 
Ok I am sure I won't be the 1st here to say wow, when people talked about hatching a store egg i thought they were nuts. I am wondering if the fertile stamp is near the date? sorry I could not find it in the early pages. Is this just a California thing? I have never seen this here in Mass but then again I never looked for it. I will now look next time I go by Trader Joe's.
 
Hi 3 NH Reds,

The word Fertile usually appears in big letters on the top of the box, just like "Free Range," "organic" or "Pastured." It would not be hard to find if the eggs are fertile. Most of the TJ's that carry Fertile eggs are on the West Coast, but other natural grocery stores around the country carry fertile eggs. Around here fertile eggs are also found at Whole Foods and Sprouts. If you don't have any stores like those, try a health food store, but be careful to make sure the eggs are really fresh.

Here is a thread with lots of other folks that have or have tried hatching eggs from the grocery since I first posted about it.

The date on the end of the box is usually a just a sell by date and packaging date. The eggs were often laid 3 weeks to a month before the sell by date. You can get an idea of when the eggs were laid from the Julian date on the end of the box, which is usually printed above or below the sell by date and it often appears as a 3 digit number. Here is a basic Julian calendar chart to help you figure it out.

Best wishes if you decide to try it out. It is a lot of fun!
 
3 NH reds said:
Ok I am sure I won't be the 1st here to say wow, when people talked about hatching a store egg i thought they were nuts. I am wondering if the fertile stamp is near the date? sorry I could not find it in the early pages. Is this just a California thing? I have never seen this here in Mass but then again I never looked for it. I will now look next time I go by Trader Joe's.
Click to expand...

Nope, not just a Callie thing. Even here in conservative Idaho, we still have a large enough 'green and organic' population to get a Whole Foods, and two other organic grocery stores. I've checked, and at least three locations sell fertile eggs.

If your TJ doesn't carry them, look into small organic grocery store chains in your area, I guarentee you at least one in your area has em.

On that note, does anyone have any idea why people seek out fertile eggs for eating? Are they supposed to have magic enzymes or something? I mean dont get me wrong, I am benefiting from it. But I sure don't understand it.
 
I can think of few different reasons why folks might prefer buy them:
  1. they want to turn them into Balut
  2. some folks assume they are healthier or more nutritious
  3. Room to mate = probably more room for the chickens, rather than a confined battery cage

*And to get cool chickens after you incubate them or give them to broody hen, of course
wink.png
 
Last edited:
I am sorry to report Joey and two buddies went to live with a young family in Burbank back in July 2010. My kids wanted to have more baby chicks and even considered joining 4H. We decided to give bantams a try and let the kids raise them. We didn't have the room to keep two separate flocks, so the 1 1/2 year old girls got a new home. Therefore, I am not sure how Joey is these days. The owner mentioned on Twitter that a Raccoon got Joey's best friend, Amber, late one night about a year after adopting them. I cried and cried when I read about it, and then a few months later the barred rock, Cruella died of a Prolaspe. It broke my heart. I was really attached to that first group of chickens. After learning about Cruella, I stopped checking back out of fear of hearing something happening to Joey.
 
Last edited:
I should have resisted looking to see if there were any updates, but reading this thread got me wondering again. I wish I had no way of knowing what happened. Sadly, I went to the link to Michelle's twitter feed and back in Oct. 2011, she posted that all of her chickens had been killed in a mass murder by raccoons. It really saddens me to know Joey is dead.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

ChickMamaCRM
Hatching Chicks, No Pips or Peeping on Day 22!!!!
2
Replies
17
Views
611
ChickMamaCRM
ChickMamaCRM
bridgetchicken
    • Like
Hatching fertile eggs from Trader Joe's?
Replies
3
Views
9K
koturnix
koturnix
FranzBear
Should I ask for a refund? eBay eggs quality and fertility does NOT look good.
2
Replies
19
Views
2K
FAVEROLLES LOVER
F
ChibaPet
    • Sad
    • Like
Need help - terrible experience incubating
2 3
Replies
29
Views
1K
Tex452
Tex452
A
    • Like
  • Poll
Airyaman's "Limited US tour" hatching eggs attempt!
Replies
2
Views
259
Airyaman
A

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom