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

[doodle doo]

Hey Penny, Thanks again for the CL response about the TJ's fertile eggs. Did the grey chick in the pic you posted come from a TJ egg?

 

[Steemroo]

Yes, welcome. I'm sorry the RiR got one - that happens. At least you saved the other 3. That's good!

Hatching 4 out of 12 w/out candling the eggs in the store was about our rate - we roughly doubled that hatch rate by candling in store. Maybe I can get my wife to explain how that's done, because she's a lot better at it than I am. Here's what we do. We open an egg carton and, with a coat over her head to shield out the store light, my wife holds a small halogen flashlight under the egg and looks for the air sac. You move the egg and see if the sac is loose, i.e. it moves a lot - or if it seems tight and doesn't move much. At least that's my understanding of it. Maybe she can add better details.

My job, besides teasing her and making her feel even more awkward about doing such a weird thing in public (it isn't weird, but it makes her so anxious), is the keep track of good and bad eggs. I rob other cartons for more eggs to test, and when we have 12 good ones w/ good sacs, we buy that carton. For eating, it doesn't matter if an air sac is loose, so we're not harming their other customers. And if we break an egg (which happens), we're honest and pay full price for a carton of 11 - and clean up the mess for them.

Again, this can double or more than double your hatch rate - also learn the magic 3 digit code and how to break it (lay date) - and you'll have a better hatch rate. Fresher eggs hatch better. What this means is that you can get up to 10 chicks maybe, or at least 7 or 8 typically - instead of the 4 or 5 you get not candling (or using old eggs). Three or so bucks for 8 or possibly 10 Leghorn chicks - that's crazy good - that's getting a proto-egg-laying-monster-of-yellow-fluffy-cuteness for as little as thirty cents! Well, plus you incubator cost, which is nil if you got a broody mama bird.

I don't mean to take away from your recent hatch, however. Our first hatch netted us two hens, and we were very happy. You've done very well. Just wanted to repeat how good this trick is - candling in store - cuz you can get a much better hatch, if you want one. That's all. Just a fine-tuning point. Good luck!

 

[TucsonAZ]

I attempted to hatch some TJ's eggs a few years ago and managed one out of a dozen which of course turned out to be a roo. This time, I started with 35 (they were six days old) and 17 just hatched, here's what I noticed:

They went in with seven eggs from my backyard hens and the TJ's eggs were a full 24-36 hours behind them in hatching.

Of the 35 (I dropped one hence 35 and not 36) three had detached air sacks.

After 10 days I was down to 21 eggs being fertile.

19 made it out of the turner and into lockdown.

17 hatched (some were slightly assisted) and two had died in the egg around lockdown time. That's a 48.5% hatch rate which I would call pretty darn good all things considered.


One question I have though, some of the chicks have black feather mixed in, on the top of the head mostly I think, what's the deal with that? Are they Leghorn crosses? The last one I hatched seemed all Leghorn to me.

 

[pickledpenny]

They are likely california whites. Mine had some small black patches as well and I just assumed california whites. I've been reading some people are getting brown egg layers though, so who knows what the Roos are?

 

[Peep_Show]

They spotty chicks might be australorps or australorp crosses. They will grow out white with an occasional dark feather and a nice disposition.

 

[TucsonAZ]

I guess I'm wondering if the eggs are a result of CW hens to some other type of rooster like a California Grey or CWxCW, I would assume CWxCW, do you know if the California White's breed true? If I breed them back together will I get some CWs and some that look more like CG? Somebody else has to have some larger birds from TJ's stock, I know the adult rooster I had from the last one I hatched looked all leghorn to me.

I may try and track down a nice Australorp rooster for these hens and see what that gives me.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Hatching 4 out of 12 w/out candling the eggs in the store was about our rate - we roughly doubled that hatch rate by candling in store. Maybe I can get my wife to explain how that's done, because she's a lot better at it than I am. Here's what we do. We open an egg carton and, with a coat over her head to shield out the store light, my wife holds a small halogen flashlight under the egg and looks for the air sac. You move the egg and see if the sac is loose, i.e. it moves a lot - or if it seems tight and doesn't move much. At least that's my understanding of it. Maybe she can add better details.

 

[Cyberous]

Here is an update pic of the Trader Joes Offspring (and TJ x Redstar offspring) The dark gray and the two browns are 100% for the TJ rooster x Redstar hens. The one very light gray one is 100% TJ rooster x TJ hens (miracle chick) and the white/white with black fleck are mix of Tj x rooster and TJ hens and Redstar hens. Looks like I will have 6 roosters, and 4 hens. I'm excited about the light gray one turning out to be a roo

bump

 

[Peep_Show]

They spotty chicks might be australorps or australorp crosses. They will grow out white with an occasional dark feather and a nice disposition.

Aack! Too much eggnog. I meant Austra Whites (which are an Australorp cross)

 

[Peep_Show]

While out at a class up in Santa Fe I decided to stop into the Trader Joe's there for some groceries. The fertile eggs were Day 357...today is 361! Picked up 3 dozen. Really lovely air cells on them and good shells. Looking forward to starting 35 of them tomorrow.

(I dropped one....)