Trader Joe’s is a grocery store chain that offers unique twists on classic food and treats that customers love. From their dark chocolate peanut butter cups, soup dumplings, cookie butter, and sweet Scandinavian swimmers, there is certainly something for everyone. Plus, if you are looking to raise some chicks from your own backyard, this store might be your next stop. As the supply of eggs continues to decrease across the country, one Trader Joe’s customer has made the most out of her singular carton. Now the product might have turned out bright, yellow, and furry but this story is sure to crack you up.
Can you hatch baby chicks from the Trader Joe’s eggs?
TikTok user @thecaliforniahome has specialized in home decorating, sourdough recipes, and rainy day baking videos. But if there’s anything that catches users’ attention the most, it’s the disclaimer in her bio that reads ‘Raising Chicks.’ She is going viral on the platform after hatching chicks from Trader Joe’s eggs and sharing the experience online. She started off by buying one dozen of Trader Joe’s large, white fertile eggs. Together with her kids, she incubated the eggs for 21 days at a constant temperature, and slowly, the eggs started to hatch. She ended up with eight new furry friends that are sure to help with the egg shortage, right in her own backyard.
This isn’t the first time someone has gone viral for hatching fertile eggs from Trader Joe’s. In 2023, several people online filmed their experience taking the eggs home and putting them in an incubator for a few weeks.
What kind of eggs did this customer buy?
Trader Joe’s sells egg cartons of all kinds. To name a few, this includes cage-free, which are laid by hens that roam in open areas, free-range, laid by hens that are raised outdoors, and omega-3 enriched, which are laid by hens that are fed a specialized diet to increase the omega-3 levels in their eggs. They also sell dozens of fertile eggs, which are ‘laid by hens in contact with roosters’ and even have the potential to hatch when properly taken care of. This means that the eggs need to be incubated and kept warm at a consistent temperature in order to see any results.
How did users react to this ‘eggs-periment’?
After @thecaliforniahome posted updates of her home-grown chicks, some TikTok users weren’t as delighted as you would think.
One person commented, “wait no this is going to bring my egg ick back,” and another said “I think I’m traumatized.”
Meanwhile, there were some who were inspired by this experiment commenting, “You know what, going to Trader Joe’s for some eggs and building a chicken coop.”
While some people were freaked out by the idea that their morning scramble could have potentially been a home-grown feathered friend, don’t worry you’re in the clear. According to Backyard Chicken Coops, there are no effects from eating a fertilized egg, and you probably won’t even taste a difference. Plus if you store your Trader Joe’s eggs in the fridge, the embryos will not develop because the temperature is too cold and will not be viable for hatching. So don’t worry, you can keep eating your egg sunny side up, scrambled, or in a bagel and enjoy.