Woman hatches six quails from 24 grocery store eggs

By Janene Pieters on February 17, 2016 - 15:25
12705719_991261897607202_6972362813285104582_n
Quail eggs hatched from Albert Heijn eggs (Photo: Fionna Bottema). (Quail eggs hatched from Albert Heijn eggs (Photo: Fionna Bottema))

To test out her new incubator, Fiona Bottema from Yde, Drenthe decided to run an experiment to find out whether supermarket eggs are really unfertilized. She bought 24 quail eggs from Albert Heijn, put them in an incubator, and about two weeks later she is now the proud owner of six quail chicks, she writes on Facebook. 

Bottema bought the box of 24 eggs early in February. Before she put them in the incubator, she first did the so-called float test - put the eggs in warm water to see if they float. Five egs moved around in the water, indicating life.

She put them in the incubator and by Monday the first egg wast hatched. By Wednesday there were six quail chicks.

Albert Heijn told news paper AD that supermarket eggs are never fertilized. "That's why the egg producer always separate the hens from the cockerels", a spokesperson said. "But apparently a cock slipped through." He added that it does not affect the quality - the eggs can be eaten whether or not they are fertilized.

Tags: