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

[ellandeeranch]

Pele, and Richard - Murray McMurray Hatchery actually sells White Leghorn Male chicks for what they call their "Frying Pan Special". They suggest 16-20 weeks of age- to get them to processing size. They charge $18.00 for 15 chicks plus shipping- so you're way ahead of the game to hatch your own- keep the layers and process the males.
I have 18 eggs in the incubator right now, (6 are my TJ leghorn hens eggs- mated to an EE roo) and I will be doing just what you two just did with the males. I will try and hold out for the 20 week mark though and hopefully get more size on.

My last three TJ's chickens (11 weeks) are going to the freezer farm this week. I'm very tired of walking by their coop, and them freaking out. All the other chickens come a running!

I don't much care if I get a lot of white eggs! We're getting plenty from the New Hampshires and Red Stars now. The Maran hens are laying well. Plus, they're all good neighbors.

I have 10 NH 6-week olds waiting to fatten up in the coop where the TJ's leghorns are right now.

Pretty chickens, though, I gotta say!

RIchard

 

[chick4chix]

My last three TJ's chickens (11 weeks) are going to the freezer farm this week. I'm very tired of walking by their coop, and them freaking out. All the other chickens come a running!

I don't much care if I get a lot of white eggs! We're getting plenty from the New Hampshires and Red Stars now. The Maran hens are laying well. Plus, they're all good neighbors.

I have 10 NH 6-week olds waiting to fatten up in the coop where the TJ's leghorns are right now.

Pretty chickens, though, I gotta say!

RIchard

I know what you mean about leghorns freaking out Richard. I had a small flock of white leghorns about 35 years ago and SWORE I would NEVER, EVER have them again! I hated the breed -they tried to commit mass-suicide every day by flying into the fence, or my head, or whatever else they perceived was between them and freedom while I was collecting eggs and doing the feeder/waterers. No matter how slow or calm I was -they freaked out and were awful. After that, I kept Wyandottes, and EE's.
Fast forward to last year when I discovered the TJ Fertile eggs in the store and I had "hatching fever" and an empty incubator. I was more than a little apprehensive about hatching them, knowing they were leghorns. I just figured I would give them away if they were freaks. To my great surprise, the girls are wonderfully calm and tame. Granted, I only have 3 leghorn hens (the boys were given away at 5 weeks). So maybe because there are only three, and the rest of the breeds are all large, calm breeds has made them sweet- or perhaps it's just the luck of the draw,

but these hens have given me an entire new perspective on the leghorn. They lay the largest egg in the flock, and have not missed a day since beginning lay at 19 weeks old.
Speaking of pretty- I just noticed for sale here the other day a "Mille Fleur" leghorn- very pretty birds

 

[ellandeeranch]

That is a great story. My New Hampshires come over all the time. Several actually trip me until I pet their breastbone. The TJ's, meanwhile, are dialing 911 and claiming I'm Norman Bates!

I know what you mean about leghorns freaking out Richard. I had a small flock of white leghorns about 35 years ago and SWORE I would NEVER, EVER have them again! I hated the breed -they tried to commit mass-suicide every day by flying into the fence, or my head, or whatever else they perceived was between them and freedom while I was collecting eggs and doing the feeder/waterers. No matter how slow or calm I was -they freaked out and were awful. After that, I kept Wyandottes, and EE's.
Fast forward to last year when I discovered the TJ Fertile eggs in the store and I had "hatching fever" and an empty incubator. I was more than a little apprehensive about hatching them, knowing they were leghorns. I just figured I would give them away if they were freaks. To my great surprise, the girls are wonderfully calm and tame. Granted, I only have 3 leghorn hens (the boys were given away at 5 weeks). So maybe because there are only three, and the rest of the breeds are all large, calm breeds has made them sweet- or perhaps it's just the luck of the draw,

but these hens have given me an entire new perspective on the leghorn. They lay the largest egg in the flock, and have not missed a day since beginning lay at 19 weeks old.
Speaking of pretty- I just noticed for sale here the other day a "Mille Fleur" leghorn- very pretty birds

 

[Pele]

I know some people have hatched chicks from "Rock Island" in Sonoma, are any of you around to give updates? I set 11. I had to cull one because of sappy leaking through the pores, but all other 10 have developed veining! We're only on day 9, but so far so good! They were 10 days old when I set them. I would love to see pics of what the chicks looked like as they grow up.

Yep, I hatched some of those! They are the brand that Whole Foods sells. 4 out of 10 hatched for me. 3 turned out male and I ended up processing them.

Oh! And if we're doing deliciousness updates, we made a really awesome curry dish out of them! Most curry dishes have long cook times, so it's perfect for rooster meat. They were meltingly good, and when I weighed them prior to quartering, they were each about a pound and a half.

Man they were a ton of work to quarter and skin though!

 

[Deerling]

Yep, I hatched some of those! They are the brand that Whole Foods sells. 4 out of 10 hatched for me. 3 turned out male and I ended up processing them.

Do you have any pictures of the one you didn't process? Did you figure out what breed they were?

Thanks for the update! The curry dish sounds good. The first meal I made my basically-husband was a lemon curry chicken. It was so good. The sauce has sugar in it, too. Then we had mashed potatoes and garlic onion asparagus. Mmm! Now I'm hungry. I've been thinking we should make a stick thread somewhere (or maybe there is one) that has good recipes for, for instance, older chickens and roosters (like instructions to make them into soup/broth) or a huge batch of eggs, or a very small rooster or hen - that kind of thing. Now that I saw that, it's probably already around, huh? If anyone is interested, here's the recipe I was talking about:

1/2 t paprika
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 2 inch pieces
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup sugar (I personally think you can use a bit less)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 t curry powder

(all t's are teaspoons)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, stir together paprika, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle seasoning over chicken pieces. Dip pieces in egg, then dredge in bread crumbs. Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in an aluminum foil-lined 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, turning once.
4. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together sugar, lemon juice, and curry powder, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.
5. Drizzle lemon sauce over chicken, return to oven, and bake 5 minutes more.

 

[Pele]

I ended up selling the female because she was neurotic. But they were all very clearly Leghorn crosses. From what I've heard, that farm sells Leghorn eggs and RIR eggs, so I would surmise that is the cross that happened here.

 

[ellandeeranch]

I processed the last of my TJ's chickens last night. They're in the fridge aging.

What is sad is that I processed a New Hampshire roo at the same time that was 10 days older. He was twice as big, though!

So much less frantic this morning when I went out to check on the birds! Everyone just doing their normal clucking and calling.

The TJ's experiment was fun, and it taught me that I can use a HovaBator successfully.

Don't think I'll have leghorns around any more, though.

Good eating, but too small, and too nervous for my liking!

Richard in Neenach, California

I ended up selling the female because she was neurotic. But they were all very clearly Leghorn crosses. From what I've heard, that farm sells Leghorn eggs and RIR eggs, so I would surmise that is the cross that happened here.

 

[wabbit1964]

i only name the ones i will eat.

satay, kebab, adobo, sandwich, salad, potpie

it keeps it real

yep I am going to follow this rule of thumb... someone it hatching 2 turkeys for me to raise.... Thanksgiving and Christmas....

 

[wabbit1964]

Now that I have finished reading the 126 pages here as part of my research on my next and for this year final eggspiriment... After the eggs in my incubator hatch mid may (16th) I will be scouring the Trader Joes and Whole Foods and other stores in my area of Maine to see what I can find for fresh fertile eggs to attempt to hatch. I don't need more chicks.. but I do want to get this out of my system... or maybe I"m becoming an incubator addict?? I am a member of incubators anonomous.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Well, my dominant leghorn hen is setting eggs! They're not supposed to go broody, but there ya have it. She's been faithfully on her nest over a week even so I kept taking her eggs and kicking her out of the nest! So I put some Crevecoeur eggs under her and 5 are developing. I'm wondering if she'll be a good mommy and integrate them into the coop?

So long as they have Pea combs they should be light blue egg layers (having at least 1 blue egg gene). From what I have read, pea comb and blue egg genes are located closely together on a single chromosome, which means they typically are inherited together. Fortunately for us, they are both dominant genes as well.

That's VERY interesting!

I just ordered an incubator today and can't wait to try hatching some store bought eggs! I have a six year old daughter who is homeschooled, so this will be really cool. We dropped by a few places today just to scope it out and our Trader Joe's (I'm in Sonoma County, CA) workers looked at me like I was insane when I asked if they sold fertile eggs (after checking the shelves and not seeing any). I know a few local stores that sell fertile brown eggs that are local, so we'll probably end up trying those. Yay!

Humm, check again, they could have been out of them? Hope you find some. Even so I kinda knew how eggs developed, I really didn't read up on it in such detail until I started hatching my own, and I gotta say, it was a fascinating learning experience! My two youngest learned right along with me (eldest is a butt and showed no interest, but eventually by being part of the family learned through osmosis anyway,

Thought I'd show you my second generation TJ mixes. Can you guess which ones didn't come from the TJ rooster?

Oh, so so cute!!!

I have a Trader Joe's hen that hatched on July 4th, 2011. Since 5 months of age she has laid five or six eggs (Sometimes SEVEN!) every week (with the exception of during our brutal summers)... I have some of her daughters. They don't lay as large an egg but they still lay almost every day.

Mine laid throughout the winter! Real working girls!

For those of you who have never processed a chicken and are nervous about it, these are very easy chickens to clean. I think if I were going to show someone how to clean a bird, I'd get myself a young leghorn. Everything pops out easily, and it's not hard at all to get the cloaca clear of the meat. You have to be careful at that point when cleaning.

Richard in Neenach, California (EllandeeRanch)

I really hope some day that I can join you all at the California Poultry People group to learn how to do this! You've shared so much information, I really appreciate it!

..........cut..........

Seriously delicious dinner. I like to give them a touch of seasoning on the grill. Chef Merido makes both a Carne Asada and a Pollo spice mix. They're both great for a little sprinkle as you cook. I also like a little mesquite for the smoky taste. The Carne Asada is supposed to be for beef, and it has more paprika. The pieces look a little orangish like a Carne Asada is supposed to. The Pollo seasoning has more lemon and is more yellowish, like Pollo Loco (only one heck of a lot more tasty).

Richard in Neenach, California

I have to look those spices up! I'm a terrible Pollo Loco fan, LOL Thanks!

I was at Whole Foods on Saturday and checked the date on the fertile eggs and they were packed Julian Date 77 which made them only 12 days old. That's the freshest I've ever seen them. I was so tempted to get them but I already have 84 eggs in the incubator. I should have gotten them just to see if they really were fertile.

Are those 84 grocery store eggs? Or ? If possible, try for less than 10 days old

My last three TJ's chickens (11 weeks) are going to the freezer farm this week. I'm very tired of walking by their coop, and them freaking out. All the other chickens come a running!

I don't much care if I get a lot of white eggs! We're getting plenty from the New Hampshires and Red Stars now. The Maran hens are laying well. Plus, they're all good neighbors.

I have 10 NH 6-week olds waiting to fatten up in the coop where the TJ's leghorns are right now.

Pretty chickens, though, I gotta say!

RIchard

Gosh, mine have only gotten friendlier. My only complaint is that they jump me when I want to feed them, and attack the spoon, LOL (I feed fermented wet feed, so...) I do have a small flock and like to sit out there with them, so I guess that's why they're used to me? I think they're good foragers too, and if I were ever to live in the country, and free range them, I'd try getting some other type of leghorns (ones that would blend in better)

I know what you mean about leghorns freaking out Richard. I had a small flock of white leghorns about 35 years ago and SWORE I would NEVER, EVER have them again! I hated the breed -they tried to commit mass-suicide every day by flying into the fence, or my head, or whatever else they perceived was between them and freedom while I was collecting eggs and doing the feeder/waterers. No matter how slow or calm I was -they freaked out and were awful. After that, I kept Wyandottes, and EE's.
Fast forward to last year when I discovered the TJ Fertile eggs in the store and I had "hatching fever" and an empty incubator. I was more than a little apprehensive about hatching them, knowing they were leghorns. I just figured I would give them away if they were freaks. To my great surprise, the girls are wonderfully calm and tame. Granted, I only have 3 leghorn hens (the boys were given away at 5 weeks). So maybe because there are only three, and the rest of the breeds are all large, calm breeds has made them sweet- or perhaps it's just the luck of the draw,

but these hens have given me an entire new perspective on the leghorn. They lay the largest egg in the flock, and have not missed a day since beginning lay at 19 weeks old.
Speaking of pretty- I just noticed for sale here the other day a "Mille Fleur" leghorn- very pretty birds

Yah, mine are so sweet and calm, except when I feed them. They' always act like they haven't eaten in a week! LOL And their crops are always the size of baseballs! Pigs I tell ya!

I processed the last of my TJ's chickens last night. They're in the fridge aging.

What is sad is that I processed a New Hampshire roo at the same time that was 10 days older. He was twice as big, though!

So much less frantic this morning when I went out to check on the birds! Everyone just doing their normal clucking and calling.

The TJ's experiment was fun, and it taught me that I can use a HovaBator successfully.

Don't think I'll have leghorns around any more, though.

Good eating, but too small, and too nervous for my liking!

Richard in Neenach, California

Well, I hope I find you in another thread to follow your adventures! you've been a wealth of information on this thread!

Now that I have finished reading the 126 pages here as part of my research on my next and for this year final eggspiriment... After the eggs in my incubator hatch mid may (16th) I will be scouring the Trader Joes and Whole Foods and other stores in my area of Maine to see what I can find for fresh fertile eggs to attempt to hatch. I don't need more chicks.. but I do want to get this out of my system... or maybe I"m becoming an incubator addict?? I am a member of incubators anonomous.

Yah, there is something about bringing real life to store bought eggs!