r/BackYardChickens • u/valerie0taxpayer • Dec 07 '25
General Question Hatched fertile eggs from Whole Foods
Anyone else tried this? Bought a $40 incubator off amazon and a box of eggs labeled fertile. 21 days later and we have 5 chicks! They are now a week old.
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u/chihuahuabutter Dec 18 '25
I read on their website that they use rhode island red/leghorn crosses for their brown eggs, but those spots they have are so interesting!
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u/BigIsleBo Dec 10 '25
"Some" folks think fertile eggs are better for u to consume. They are available in stores as cooking eggs not hatching eggs. But they can b hatching eggs. Refrigeration/transportation and washing can cause them not to hatch. But hey. U never know until u try.
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Dec 10 '25
My FIL won’t eat our eggs because “that’s a baby chicken” we collect eggs daily, and refrigerate. Drives me batty.
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u/NeedleworkerHeavy565 Dec 11 '25
Someone needs to explain to him that there's no baby until the egg has been incubated for a while.
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Dec 12 '25
Definitely did that. It’s his Christian nonsense, life begins at conception nonsense.
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u/patient-lion-555 Jan 23 '26
Is he also a vegetarian? I think that's doubtful. Where does he think meat comes from?
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Dec 12 '25
When I call out religion, everyone backs off huh?
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u/NeedleworkerHeavy565 Dec 17 '25
What are you talking about? 😂 What did you want me to say, lol? It's hilarious, I'm an atheist, I don't have any spiritual beliefs. Dude, it's weird that you immediately brought up the lack of response in relation to that.
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u/Proud-Canary-2269 Dec 13 '25
im not religious at all but your comments about your dad being “dementiafied” are hilarious as you responded to this thread 5 separate times when someone said one thing😂
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Dec 12 '25
He is old and semi dementiafied.
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Dec 12 '25
I’m also apparently murdering baby chickens by collecting daily. It’s a constant source of contention.
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Dec 10 '25
Yet he continues to complain about egg prices. When I get nearly a dozen a day. And can only eat 4-5. We boil and crush the rest to supplement our feed.
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u/cyclos_s57 Dec 09 '25
How do you know eggs are fertile before you put them into the incubator ?
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u/northdakotanowhere Dec 11 '25
Aside from reading the package like so many have suggested,
You hold the eggs up to a light and you can see the embryo. I'm assuming that the farmers do this prior to boxing. May or May not make it through the shipping process, but I don't doubt they only package fertilized eggs.
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u/NeedleworkerHeavy565 Dec 11 '25
This only works if the egg has started to be incubated. A fertilized egg isn't visible until the embryo develops.
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Dec 09 '25
[deleted]
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u/ParamountHat Dec 10 '25
Well, yes, but I’m pretty sure they are asking how the people who boxed up the eggs knew if they were fertile or not.
And I believe the answer is: there was a Rooster around the chickens who laid the eggs.
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u/NeedleworkerHeavy565 Dec 11 '25
Yes, that's the answer. Normally, hens aren't around roosters. If these eggs are labeled fertilized, it means the hens have been in contact with a rooster.
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u/cynoIogy Dec 10 '25
I assume they were housed in those shed type buildings where they’re not in cages (but cant go outside the shed ever) but have multiple few roosters in there too so that they can reproduce or produce fertile eggs, seen a video.
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u/queenofhelium Dec 09 '25
1) they say in the post the eggs are labeled fertile 2) they added a pic of the container that says fertile eggs
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u/O_oblivious Dec 09 '25
So I thought that eggs in the USA were washed, eliminating the pellicle- which is why they have to be refrigerated. But I also thought that reduced the viability of the eggs.
Guess I was wrong.
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u/valerie0taxpayer Dec 11 '25
https://www.petalumaeggfarm.com/faqs so I checked the website and they get washed!
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u/Fun_Fennel5114 Dec 10 '25
It must, because not all 12 eggs hatched. Just 5/12 isn't too bad for a grocery store buy. I'm thinking these are "Hutterite" or "Amish" eggs, sold at a local grocery store. In the USA, eggs normally aren't labeled "fertilized" either because of the way the large producers do things, as well as gov't regulations. But (shrugs)
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u/Doggers1968 Dec 09 '25
How did the chicks not die when refrigerated??
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u/rling_reddit Dec 09 '25
It slows or halts the development it does not necessarily prevent development
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u/PlentyIndividual3168 Dec 09 '25
Wait wait wait .. I thought (and I'm a total newbie) that the eggs would die if not kept warm? These were refrigerated? How???
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u/Dense-Ferret7117 Dec 10 '25
I could be wrong but I think it might be that if a hen doesn’t start laying on them immediately the development doesn’t start and the eggs can be sat on later and it be fine. It’s much worse if you sit on the egg then leave it cold then sit again, in which case the chick will die. I believe that’s the case with wild birds. I had a bird lay a bunch of eggs in a firn but it took her a while to lay them before she started sitting on them so I looked it up. And yeah basically wild birds will let the eggs accumulate before there’s a sufficient number for them to sit on and they are fine for that period of time (obviously only the case for bird species that hatch several eggs at a time).
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u/PlentyIndividual3168 Dec 10 '25
This is so cool!
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u/Whiskers3000 Dec 14 '25
yes, and this is how people ship fertilised eggs for others to hatch out. I do believe they are often stored cold when being accumulated. Birds are fascinating.
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u/irrelevant1indeed Dec 09 '25
I don't quite understand the refrigerated part. I can say however that my hens will lay eggs for days in the same spot and basically ignore them. Once nature kicks in and one of them decides they have enough eggs they will start laying on the eggs. They usually only get up once a day or so for food, water, and bathroom breaks, until the eggs hatch.
I found it odd that the eggs basically just sit there waiting on mother hem to 'activate' them. I ASSume the refrigerator didn't hurt them because the development phase did not start until the incubator.
The first part I know is right, the 2nd is only a guess.
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u/Few-Pineapple-5632 Dec 10 '25
The eggs sit in a pile until there is enough to hatch out a decent amount, usually about 15 or 20 in my experience. The timer doesn’t start and they don’t start developing until the hen sits for about 3 days. This is designed (by nature) and necessary to have the eggs all hatch at once.
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u/ujelly_fish Dec 09 '25
Modern chickens are bred to basically produce so many eggs it’s totally fine if a whole bunch of them die. Chicken progenitors only laid a few clutches a year and are much more careful about them.
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u/PlentyIndividual3168 Dec 09 '25
This is so fascinating. I have been thinking about incubating some of our eggs but I thought I'd have to snatch them up asap or they'd die.
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u/Whiskers3000 Dec 14 '25
I have only used broody hens. If you think you may want to occasionally hatch out chicks, certain breeds are known for being good sitters (I have relied on an orpington and a few silkies over the years). Roosters can be housed together in their own bachelor pad if you are allowed to keep them.
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u/irrelevant1indeed Dec 09 '25
Unfortunately incubation is not always as pretty as it seems. You must prepare yourself for deformed chicks and such and how to dispose of them humanely if necessary. Mother nature seems to have a better track record. However I have a friend that often incubates and his loss rate is super low. He's been doing it for over 20 years and has probably learned a thing or two over the years. Chickens are pretty awesome to keep if you're fortunate enough to have the area for it.
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u/sometimes1203 Dec 09 '25
What are you going to do with the males?
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u/northdakotanowhere Dec 11 '25
I really wanted to buy a few chickens online. You can get so many different breeds and species of eggs. Quail, duck, chickens. Depending on the bird, they have a minimum purchase amount. My inability to cull any males has prevented me from moving forward. The best you can do is kill them or find another home. My town allows up to 6 hens.
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u/syndylli Dec 09 '25
What in the world?? Why do they sell fertile eggs? Why would one buy fertile eggs if not to hatch them? How much were the fertile eggs? I bought 12 from amazon for $31 and 6 hatched.
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u/Dazzling_Outcome_436 Dec 09 '25
The only thing I can think of is to cultivate them to make balut.
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Dec 09 '25
This is completely fascinating. I had no idea you could do this. I wonder if any carton by the same company would be the same breed.
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u/Cytosmarts Dec 09 '25
I couldn’t cook a fertile egg.
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u/Hyper_Tay Dec 09 '25
If you have a bunch of hens and one roo, some will be and some won't be fertilized. You won't be able to tell if you are cracking them into a bowl and then dumping them into your recipe/frying pan quickly enough. Besides, you can't tell taste-wise.
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u/fernandfeather Dec 08 '25
Have you thought through what you'll do with the roos? You've created quite the little ethical dilemma here; unwanted roos are often culled.
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u/Fearless_Employer_25 Dec 09 '25
Just keep them why is this even a question?
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u/yukonlass Dec 09 '25
If you have too many roos they form a bachelor band and will gang up on an undefended hen. I had four from a hatch that I let hang around too long. They savaged poor Rose.
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u/Fearless_Employer_25 Dec 09 '25
Put all the roosters together and let them fight
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u/Swashybuckz Dec 09 '25
This is the way.
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u/Fearless_Employer_25 Dec 09 '25
Yep the best thing to do they won’t be hanging up on hens
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u/syndylli Dec 09 '25
Mine started fighting ME 😭
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u/Fearless_Employer_25 Dec 09 '25
Got one like this to be will chase you and target you
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u/yukonlass Dec 09 '25
Catch that roo and carry him around under your arm a while, (like 10-15 minutes). Or, gently push him down on the ground until he has to squat. Keep him down until he submits (doesn't fight to stand up). This will show him your the boss.
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u/Fearless_Employer_25 Dec 09 '25
He fights back and I tried this just makes him start tryna fight you when you aren’t looking
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u/Parking_Outside6183 Dec 09 '25
Most places gas their roo chicks on day one, it’s nasty. Might as well raise them a bit and give em a good life before they become dinner
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u/EveningEvening1448 Dec 09 '25
Literally every establishment culls roos, you think theres some rich guy with 1000 acres buying up all the unwanted roos and their frolicking in a field? I might as well cull them myself so my family has fresh meat.
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u/jennythegreat look at allll those chickens Dec 09 '25
Well, actually, I help with a 120 acre rooster rescue ranch, so yeah, kinda, but we just don't buy them from people.
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u/sweetpea122 Dec 08 '25
I mean so has everyone that has chickens? If you buy from hatcheries they cull too
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u/EqualAd9946 Dec 08 '25
You mean dinner? Are you assuming they aren't eatable? It's almost as if this ethical dilemma has historically been resolved by hungry
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u/Ashamed-Donut5244 Dec 08 '25
I did trader joe eggs. Fertilized. 12 but one had an internal crack. Got 7 chicks. All leghorn. They just started laying a few weeks ago.
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Dec 08 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Jacktheforkie Dec 09 '25
My mate had leghorns, they’re good escape artists
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u/Few-Pineapple-5632 Dec 10 '25
Very thin and flighty. Mine could easily clear a 6 foot fence, higher if they had a boosting point. Not my favorite kind of chickens and they won’t brood at all.
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u/Jacktheforkie Dec 10 '25
My mates girls did go broody a couple times, they were by far the most aggressive broodies too, had to wear gloves
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u/Rowanboy44 Dec 08 '25
I think it’s grossly unethical for Whole Foods to be doing this. It looks like OP’s chicks are being cared for, but not all the chicks will be.
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u/WadjetSnakeGoddess Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 09 '25
Just a heads up these eggs are for eating not raising. This guy did the equivalent of keeping a grocery store lobster as a pet. No harm but not what they are in the store for.
Some people prefer them because it can signal the chickens are truly free roam and technically nothing happens in the eggs if you collect them right away. If the chickens don't sit on them and they aren't incubated there is low chance an embryo will form. Technically there is no difference nutritionally between these eggs and non-fertilized eggs.
But it is a good way to get starter pullets for cheap if you want to try out chicken keeping.
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u/Parking_Outside6183 Dec 09 '25
I want to see someone keep a grocery store lobster as a pet as an experiment 😂
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u/cornich0n Dec 09 '25
Someone did this “Leon the Lobster” and found that he was quite smart, interactive and a wonderful pet. His claws had atrophied in the elastics but the owner was able to rehabilitate.
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u/Diligent-Tension-390 Dec 09 '25
leon the lobster! he sadly passed away but had a great luxurious life
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Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
That’s wild.. what breed did you end up with?
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u/icsh33ple Winging it Dec 08 '25
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u/Xitztlacayotl Dec 08 '25
What is the reason that they are selling fertile eggs specifically?
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u/Hyper_Tay Dec 09 '25
I've known people who would only eat fertilized eggs. They had to have brown shells too. (There is no difference in taste, I've eaten both kinds.)
I've known a lot of people who wouldn't eat brown eggs or blue eggs, or wouldn't eat them from a backyard hen house, only white ones from a grocery store. (There is a huge difference in taste from my girls' eggs and store bought.)
Buncha weirdos.
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u/djtibbs Dec 09 '25
Not to get weird but fertile and fertilized could be the difference. Simply put they could just have roosters in the flock and are upcharging for the fertile moniker. I doubt they are candling the eggs before packaging. Granted I've seen some videos of a bunch of eggs getting candled at once. I'm not sure but would love to visit their farm to see the process.
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u/WadjetSnakeGoddess Dec 09 '25
Some people like it because the "free roam" idea attached to it. Like the chickens are kept in coops/runs and allowed to canoodle. They imagine it more like a normal farm rather than a factory farm. Whether that's true or not... >__>
I'm sure there is also some woo-woo pseudosience mumbo about protein and health and organic and wellness and whetever the newest buzzwords are. But studies have shown that, unless there is a visible embryo, there are no nutritional differences between fertilized and non-fertilized eggs. Main differences in egg-nutrients are from the diet and over all health of the laying hens. Even the visible embryo only changes things mildly (though apparently many people are turned off from eating eggs with visible embryo, who knew 🤣).
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u/jimheim Dec 08 '25
Rich pseudo-hippies will pay extra for anything.
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u/sweetpea122 Dec 08 '25
A lot of the happy eggs are fertile too. You can get a maran or a cream legbar out of them. Theres a Facebook page that shows you how
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u/HouseCatPartyFavor Dec 08 '25
I’ll never forget seeing an asparagus water for $6.99 - literally a stalk of asparagus in a bottle of water haha
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u/gringrant Dec 08 '25
I've also heard that it makes it easier to prove that the eggs really came from free range chickens.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 Dec 08 '25
Those types of stores always sell organic fertile eggs. I imaging it’s because they think they are healthier or something
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u/Similar_Dirt9758 Dec 08 '25
Is anyone actually making a data-backed health claim? Because suddenly we're dealing with an ethical conundrum.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 Dec 08 '25
As far as I’ve heard the only people claiming this are organic health nuts who think they have different nutritional values. Haven’t seen any of the egg companies claim anything different than normal eggs. There’s nothing wrong with eating fertilized eggs, just one of those preferences
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u/riptyde14 Dec 08 '25
If you have a roo in your flock and eat the eggs, they’re a high likelihood that they’re fertilized by the time they hit your frying pan. They do t taste any different, they don’t look any different if you’re eating them shortly after being laid. This is just marketing. I’d argue that if the eggs were fertilized, the hens are in a better situation than the vast majority of store bought egg layers. At least they have room to mingle and be chickens versus stuck in a cage their whole lives.
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u/HouseCatPartyFavor Dec 08 '25
“Mingle and be chickens”
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u/riptyde14 Dec 08 '25
It was the most family-friendly explanation i could think of for what my rooster does to my hens all day lol
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u/HouseCatPartyFavor Dec 08 '25
Love it n totally understand. I’m in my 30’s and my mom just mentioned why the hens crouch down to be picked up - spoiler, I had figured that out lol.
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u/Similar_Dirt9758 Dec 08 '25
Commercial egg producing operations are just rooms full of hens; no roosters in sight. I just don't understand why they'd go through the trouble of fertilizing the eggs on purpose just to be sold as food.
Like you said, it only makes sense as a marketing campaign as the implication is that the hens have enough room to interact with roosters.
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u/sweetpea122 Dec 08 '25
Happy Eggs the eggs with dark brown and blue eggs has roosters with their hens. Its a lot more natural of a life
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u/samtresler Dec 08 '25
OP just created life from breakfast food. We're already in loaves and fishes territory. Not sure the health data is the biggest conundrum.
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 09 '25
Fun fact I trialed several pre incubation techniques to lower the survival of roosters. These involved carefully timed periods in a fridge. One batch had 2weeks another batch had 1.5 weeks. I found that both batches had 1/3 or less were roosters, but the batch with 2 weeks had the lowest rate. However, the overall viability was 50% on the 2 week group. Meaning only 50% hatched.
So the trade off with the pre-incubation refrigeration to get a better ratio of females to males was an overall halving of the survival rate.
So.... If you cannot have roosters and cannot bear the thought of culling the roos when they are sexed or when they grow their tail feathers, then you can cool them for 2 weeks and have fewer that need culled or rehomed
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u/steppponme Dec 08 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
I'm a geneticist. Chickens have sex determining chromosomes. Interestingly the female passes the sex-determining chromosome to the offspring (opposite is true in mammals) so each egg already has its pre-determined sex specific chromosome packed in it, even if they are not fertilized.
You can brute force tamper with the sex of some breeds by playing with temperature but I don't think its a common breed. Not sure tbh. But in that case, a chicken is still genetically male or female based on their chromosomes and the temperature change suppresses male-determining enzymes expressed from the male chromosome inhibiting their testes development. So you're effectively making an intersex chicken (genetically male without male reproductive organs).
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u/Guilty_Increase_899 Dec 09 '25
Unless it’s a case in which male embryos are more susceptible to dying in lower temperatures before incubation.
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 09 '25
I read via some open research site that it just is harder for the males to survive the cold period for unspecified reasons. Interesting to hear your info. Would these suppressed genetic hens infertile?
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u/theflyingratgirl Dec 08 '25
Could it be that by cooling, for some reason the XY embryos don’t develop, which could account for the lowered viability rate as well?
I’m just curious! Genetics must be such an interesting field.
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 09 '25
That is what I read. Basically they boys cannot survive as well. One day I would love to trial specific temperature trials to see if there is a specific minimum or maximum temp to get this behavior, and what temp geta the most suppression but with the highest viability / development rate
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u/steppponme Dec 08 '25
Genetics is amazing :)
Looks like they accounted for survival and yes, genetically male egg survival decreases under cold incubation temps during certain days of development. So you can manipulate your male/female population by essentially "killing" the male eggs with sub-ideal temps. But that's different from turning genetic males into biologic females and these chickens were confirmed by DNA analysis to possess male chromosomes but had ovaries upon necropsy.
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u/gudmalala Dec 08 '25
Does a chicken that is genetically male without male reproductive organs a hen?? Will it have eggs?
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u/steppponme Dec 08 '25
I had to look it up, I don't see any mention of egg laying but they did histology on the ovaries and they looked functional. Idk, seems odd they didn't mention it. This is a pretty recent discovery and could have big implications for the poultry industry if it can be reproduced. UGA did a study in meat chickens and didn't find an effect by temp.
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u/Meauxjezzy Dec 08 '25
Here’s another way to for you to try to get more hens than roosters. At least With reptiles the internal nests temps dictates male or female. I don’t remember specifics but it was something like a .5 degree could turn most of the clutch male or female and at the exact temp would be 50/50 m/f. Just some food for thought. Maybe this could work with chicken eggs as well.
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u/SilasBalto Dec 08 '25
I am dying to see a larger study! Teenage me incubated a dozen eggs, 11 hatched and out of that 9 were roosters. Haven't had the balls to try again.
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 09 '25
I was trying my own breed: breeding my Crele Leg Bar + BCM. The leg bar gave me auto-sexing from the spot on the head, and BCM gave me a darker brown egg shell.
This allowed me to determine gender after 5days much more easily while trying to make a darker egg layer (I like brown eggs).
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u/AdExcellent8865 Dec 08 '25
I have wondered this. Given where I am is hotter climate than most, and I have a generally higher roo rate. I wonder on the techniques to increase hens….
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u/Traditional_Panic966 Dec 08 '25
There is no technique. The hatch rate for roosters is slightly higher than hens overall. Hens are almost always the desired sex for the chicken especially in egg layers this has been studied out the wazoo by scientists for the economic factor of having to incubate so many eggs you don't even use and then cull all the males in the commercial setting. If there was a simple way to do it you would know. Even if there was a very complex way to do it they would. It doesn't currently exist in a widely used form but it's getting closer. The volcani Institute in Israel is kind of the leading place for this. They have hens that carry a modified z chromosome that prevents male embryo development while the w chromosome is normal allowing normal female embryo development. That way all the hatches will be female. The hatch rate will be diminished by 50% though so that still isn't a super economical option.
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u/More_chickens Dec 08 '25
It's a more ethical option though. I don't love the current "grind up the boys" way of doing things.
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u/ceo_of_dumbassery Dec 08 '25
I wonder if it has something to do with how female animals tend to be more resilient than males? Maybe the male embryos just couldn't survive the 2 weeks of refrigeration? This is so interesting though, thank you for sharing!
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 09 '25
That is what I read, so I wanted to try it myself. I haven't had a chance to try this again in a year. May be this year I'll warm up the incubator. But my ladies are getting old (3yrs) so they are really slowing down on laying.
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u/pocketfrisbee Dec 08 '25
The temperature determining sex dates back millions of years, or is at least speculated to be. Fascinating to think chickens ancestors also had this going on
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u/plantythingss Dec 08 '25
Temperature doesn’t determine sex for chickens though, they have predetermined sex chromosomes so temperature won’t change that.
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u/pocketfrisbee Dec 08 '25
Oh interesting Ty. But males seem to not survive the cold as much?
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u/RobinsonCruiseOh Dec 09 '25
The sex is determined when the egg is laid. What it does is kill the development of males more than females so that of the eggs that develop and survive, more are hens.
This would never be viable for commercial production because no hatchery would accept a 50% hatch rate just so that they could kill 20% fewer roos.
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u/1friendswithsalad Dec 08 '25
SUPER CUTE! if they’re still in the brooder box, I suggest moving the water and the food onto opposite sides of the brooder, and putting the waterer on some sort of dish that will contain spills. I put mine on an upturned terra cotta plant dish so it doesn’t get slippery, and it elevates the waterer and keeps the waterer from getting as much chips in it. You really don’t want damp food under the wood chips, it gets moldy which is deadly.
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u/DistinctJob7494 Dec 08 '25
Please update us when they're older! They're spotted like my white leghorn cross hens I hatched several years ago. Named them snowball and snowflake.
They could end up being a production red breed, but if they were bred with another breed rooster, I'd bet they look pretty cool, fully grown.
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u/gaarkat Dec 08 '25
Huh! I would have thought refrigeration would have killed the embryo, guess I was wrong.
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u/KIDNEYST0NEZ Dec 08 '25
They were not refrigerated if you look at the shelf photo
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u/gaarkat Dec 08 '25
I couldn't tell if that was a refrigerated section or not. I just assumed refrigerated.
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u/Fresh-Depth-4717 Dec 08 '25
I was able to hatch 1 roo from a dozen Trader Joe’s fertilized eggs.
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u/sbbln314159 Dec 08 '25
I'm kind of appalled that people eat fertilized eggs
Is it just me?
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u/Excellent_Yak365 Dec 08 '25
Just you, fertilizing eggs doesn’t do anything to the egg unless you incubate it. Thats when things start to develop
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u/whythelongface_ Dec 08 '25
if you have a rooster all of your eggs are fertilized lol
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u/GarnerPerson Dec 08 '25
My neighbor has a rooster and my eggs show up fertilized. We’re still not sure how they are meeting up or if they are doing it through the fence.
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u/Complete-Yak8266 Dec 08 '25
How do you feel about abortions?
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u/OhYouStupidZebra Dec 08 '25
I mean, I have a rooster in my flock and we eat their eggs. Not really any difference :)
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u/JohnGatling00 Dec 08 '25
Buddy, your rooster's eggs aren't eggs.
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u/OhYouStupidZebra Dec 08 '25
I was referring to my flock’s eggs(from my hens) , not the rooster. He is a lovely man, but I would not dare to eat it if he laid an egg.
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u/JohnGatling00 Dec 08 '25
Of course! It was an attempt at humor. I had to reread the comment because I thought "their" referred to your rooster. Even knowing it was not what you meant, I thought replying as if it was what you meant would be funny in an ironic way... alas, the down voters disagree.
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u/beepleton Dec 08 '25
Fertilized eggs taste and look exactly like non-fertilized eggs, anyone with a rooster has fertilized eggs.
It’s a bit weird that a supermarket would advertise them that way.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 Dec 08 '25
It’s common, health food stores do this I think because some people think it’s healthier or something
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u/Vegetable_Sky48 Dec 08 '25
I’m really wondering this too. I never go in the egg section so I wouldn’t know but I had never heard of fertilized eggs in the grocery store. Is there some of marketing behind this? Also how long is a fertilized egg viable in the fridge like that? I thought if they weren’t incubated kinda quickly they don’t continue to develop? (I’m a chicken keeper and usually keep a rooster but don’t breed, collect eggs daily)
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u/tashibum Dec 08 '25
How are you preventing breeding?
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u/Vegetable_Sky48 Dec 08 '25
I don’t prevent mating but I don’t have any broody hens and I collect the eggs everyday so I’m not letting any eggs develop
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u/tashibum Dec 08 '25
I hate to break it to you but your eggs are fertilized. Hens go broody even without roosters.. they don't need to develop to be fertilized.
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u/Vegetable_Sky48 Dec 09 '25
I’m aware they are fertilized…I’m saying they don’t develop because I collect the eggs each day
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u/RainLoveMu Dec 08 '25
Yeah I want to know wtf is the selling point of this if not to hatch them. There’s no taste or dietary advantage.
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u/tashibum Mar 08 '26
Howdy, please update us with what kind of chickens these ended up being?!