Trader Joe’s is renowned for a lot of items. It’s the only place you can grab any snack doused in Everything But The Bagel seasoning, chocolate bars exceeding a whole pound, and flower bouquets that are perfectly fresh and ideally priced. Plus, their meat section is divine, between well-priced smoked salmon, buttermilk-brined chicken, and balsamic rosemary beef steak tips. However, as weird as it might sound, some Trader Joe’s locations may even give you the opportunity to grow your own chicken. Seriously, you can purchase fertile eggs from the refrigerated section right next to the kefir and almond milk creamer.
What are store-bought fertilized eggs?
While most grocery stores sell unfertilized eggs, meaning that hens were not in contact with roosters, Trader Joe’s does sell dozen cartons of fertile eggs. This means that they do have the possibility of hatching if properly incubated. However, you can eat these fertilized eggs with no problems. There is no difference in health benefits when it comes to fertilized versus unfertilized eggs. According to the Happy Chicken Coop, the go-to publication for backyard chicken growers, “a chick develops in its egg for about 21 days, and it needs constant warmth, humidity, and movement for things to run smoothly.” This means that refrigerated eggs will not actually grow any chickens.
Has anyone actually hatched chicks?
Many have tried hatching Trader Joe’s fertile eggs, including this successful teacher, and some have even shared their journeys on TikTok including user @findingmom.me.
As a person who has raised chickens before, she implores buyers to do their research before trying to hatch chicks from store-bought eggs. “These are live animals,” Rachel Anne says.
This TikTok user also shares that Trader Joe’s labels these eggs as fertile eggs due to a rooster free-roaming with hens in the area where they are kept for protection purposes. She shares, “Now does that mean you’re eating baby chicks? No, because [farmers] collect the eggs daily. The eggs are immediately refrigerated, therefore the production and the development of the little tiny embryo has not started, and until it starts to be at 99.5 degrees for consistently many many hours, it doesn’t develop.”
So, if you accidentally buy fertile eggs from Trader Joe’s, have no fear, your omelette will taste just fine and with no hints of growing baby chicken. If you want to grow chicks in your college dorm, well, make sure your R.A. doesn’t find out.