Trader Joes & Other Grocery Store Egg Hatching Club - Are you a Member

[chick4chix]

Old Rooster-
Below are three photos from 'Speckledhen' and her explanation of the three. The first picture is an INfertile egg. The next two are fertile eggs at slightly different stages, but both freshly laid. Usually, you look for the bullseye/donut appearance, but there are different stages of development of even freshly laid eggs and the two last pictures demonstrate that. This is caused by cells in the center of the blastoderm dying off and leaving a cleared out area, making that bullseye appearance.






It really helps to compare it to an infertile egg- so you know what you're looking for.
Have fun!

 

[oldrooster]

thank you

 

[chick4chix]

You're welcome- Good luck!

 

[cluck-cluck]

Your girls are getting close cluck cluck! Such adorable faces! My first TJ pullet to lay was exactly 19 weeks, the other two followed suit later in the week. They are now 7 months old and laying JUMBO eggs every single day! Their crops also look very full (like yours does here) - more so than the other breeds I think because their bodies are so slim, it really shows. Hopefully, you will be getting eggs soon. It's Sooooo eggciting!!

I'm getting almost a dozen eggs a day from my flock of 13.

My only problem is, I have two EE girls who are laying their eggs in the outdoor run and not laying in the nests-

I have to go on an egg hunt every time now. I have blocked the spots they use, but they find other spots and seem to prefer to dig their own nests rather than use the nests in the coop. I have seen them lay outside when all the inside nests are available - so it's not that. 5 nest boxes for 13 pullets is more than enough, I have not been able to figure out why they are doing this. We've been having rain, and it's making me crazy getting these muddy eggs. I even put a outside nest in the run, and filled it with pineshavings to attempt to attract them to lay there, so I could get clean eggs- nothing doing- they still dug out their own hole. Anyone have any suggestions on stubborn outdoor layers?

Thank you, and LOL, yah, I'm late with building the nest box, so I just have a bucket in there on it's side with shaving inside it. I found a golf ball and put it in there, but it has disappeared, LOL. I can't find it, but I bet it's in the shavings somewhere???!

How do you find these types of eggs. I am somewhat new at this and have never seen hatch-able eggs around me .... but than again was never looking.

If you have a trader joes, they probably won't have the fertile eggs, because it seems to be a west coast thing?? I've read that safeway market? has some, whole foods maybe it was sprouts that I heard about?? Anyway, look for the word "fertile" on the box. Also, don't go by the "enjoy by" date, look for the three number stamp on the box, it is the "Julian" date numbered 001 to 366 (for this year, as it's a leap year) and try to get one that is closest to today's date. So today is 362, you probably won't ever find anything less than 4 days old, as it takes that long to get to market, but something under 10 days should be good.

Please be patient with me folks for asking some stupid questions.... 1 egg incubate rs I have seen little table top models in the back of some magazines looks like a version of a hot air popcorn popper (the bowl kind not the tower kind of popper) do these work well on chicken eggs? 2 if you buy eggs from the store to hatch should you put them straight into the incubator or allow them to reach room temperature first? I don't have a trader Joe's in my local area but I drive by an Amish ran store occasionally and they have fresh farm eggs and I have no guarantee they are fertile (I guess by the way it looks Joe's eggs aren't guaranteed either for that....). I have an idea if I buy an incubator and some eggs I can talk my brother and sister in law into the chicken ownership....

Maybe you're thinking of the Brinsea? The Brinsea mini advance is awful nice! Everyone I've heard talk of it have said it holds the temperature and humidity perfectly. In fact I would really love one! http://www.brinsea.com/prod-Mini_Advance_fully_digital_7_egg_incubator-230.aspx

 

[WestVermont]

I think I finally understand the Julian date it is not some secret code like I was over thinking it but how many days into the year the day is ie... Jan 15 would be 015 and so on. Boxes here are not to be taken serious as they are recycled by back yard farmers and repeatedly collected and reused unless soiled to badly.

 

[oldrooster]

I think I finally understand the Julian date it is not some secret code like I was over thinking it but how many days into the year the day is ie... Jan 15 would be 015 and so on. Boxes here are not to be taken serious as they are recycled by back yard farmers and repeatedly collected and reused unless soiled to badly.

yep I work in a supermarket and the Julian date is based on the 365 day calender not the mm/dd/yyyy most Americans are used to seeing

 

[ellandeeranch]

I've read a lot of this thread, and haven't seen this question. What are people doing with the roos they get? I'm planning on processing them as soon as they get to be bad members of the community. I have only processed a couple chickens so far, but am learning quickly. I hear that leghorn roos are almost not worth the effort to process them, but then I hear that they're good eating. Guess I'll find out if this hatch goes well. Day 9, and I'm planning on candling in a couple days. I saw veins on a bunch of them Day 5.

Any eating-extra-TJ-chickens stories out there?

Richard in Neenach

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've read a lot of this thread, and haven't seen this question. What are people doing with the roos they get? I'm planning on processing them as soon as they get to be bad members of the community. I have only processed a couple chickens so far, but am learning quickly. I hear that leghorn roos are almost not worth the effort to process them, but then I hear that they're good eating. Guess I'll find out if this hatch goes well. Day 9, and I'm planning on candling in a couple days. I saw veins on a bunch of them Day 5.

Any eating-extra-TJ-chickens stories out there?

Richard in Neenach

Any chicken is worth eating. I raised a flock of 18 different breeds including leghorns, anconas, polish, etc.. I butchered each roo as he started to crow. They're not real meaty but taste fine.
Living the life of a chicken running around the field playing with friends is better than becoming dog food as a day old.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Mine crowed at 6 weeks! Not much on a leghorn at that point! LOL It is a problem for someone like me, who lives in the city and has neighbors that wouldn't approve of seeing butchering going on in the back yard

I found homes for mine, but one could cull by 3 weeks, it's easy to see which ones are boys then. This is exactly why I'll never be able to actually raise chickens, only have some chickens. Oh well

 

[ellandeeranch]

Cluck-cluck, I'm just up the hill by Quail Lake in Neenach, so if you get stuck for a rooster home, lemme know. II'm a former SFV resident as well. Raised in Sunland, high school in Granada Hills, bachelor's at CSUN, then moved up to the Antelope Valley. Moved way out west to Neenach nine years ago once the kids grew up and left.

Also, if you want a place to process your roosters, you'd be welcome up here for a trip. I'm just learning to butcher myself, and have done a couple. As a matter of fact, a 16-week New Hampshire roo is coming out of the fridge after a couple days and going on the barbeque tonight!

I plan to process another toward the end of the week. I'd like to get to where I have several available at any time. I'm keeping the ones I'm raising for meat (the "foodsters") in a different coop than the layers (the "eggsters").

If the TJ's continue to incubate well (day 10 today), I guess I'm going to see how much meat there is on a leggern! I had an Americauna roo a couple months ago that was delicious, but not big-breasted. Sounds like I'll become a different type of chicken fancier soon.

Richard in Neenach

Mine crowed at 6 weeks! Not much on a leghorn at that point! LOL It is a problem for someone like me, who lives in the city and has neighbors that wouldn't approve of seeing butchering going on in the back yard

I found homes for mine, but one could cull by 3 weeks, it's easy to see which ones are boys then. This is exactly why I'll never be able to actually raise chickens, only have some chickens. Oh well