Can Store Bought Eggs Hatch?
The eggs bought from a store cannot hatch because of the way they have been laid. An egg that can hatch is supposed to be fertilized by a rooster. The eggs are farmed without roosters, hence they will not hatch. Even if they do contain an embryo they have to be incubated at 100 degrees.
No, a store cannot buy eggs to hatch. Store-bought eggs are unable to hatch. This is especially true if they are sourced from farms with only hens and no roosters to fertilize the eggs before they are laid. On the other hand, fertilized eggs purchased from a farm can hatch except in certain circumstances, such as if they are refrigerated.
We’ll explain why those eggs from the grocery store are extremely unlikely to hatch.
Why don’t store-bought eggs hatch?
There are several reasons why you should not be concerned about supermarket or store-bought egg hatching.
In summary, it’s because: chicken eggs must be fertilized by a rooster to hatch, and chicken eggs must be incubated at around 100 degrees F for 21 days. As you can see, it is not strange even if you intended to hatch an egg from a grocery store because it (would) not even be fertilized.
Why Aren’t Supermarket Eggs Fertilized?
Many people are surprised by this (don’t worry if you are one of them), but store-bought eggs are not fertilized.
No matter whether they are fertilized or not, hens lay eggs. An egg must first be fertilized and have a chance of hatching a chick under the right conditions.
The rooster must mate with the hen appropriately for the next egg to be fertilized. According to my research, a hen can produce a fertilized egg for up to three weeks after mating with a rooster.
There are usually no roosters on egg farms or other locations where shops buy eggs. As a result, it is almost always impossible for an egg to be fertilized.
In the absence of roosters, can hens lay eggs?
For hens to lay eggs, they do not need to mate with roosters. Hens will keep laying eggs whether or not roosters are present. The only different thing is that hens’ eggs are more likely to be fertilized if roosters can mate with them openly each time.
Women of reproductive age lay eggs. They bleed during their menstrual cycle because their bodies shed them and the endometrium if they are not fertilized.
It’s similar to that with hens — sort of.
Hens, like female humans, lay eggs. But whether or not they are fertilized, hens lay eggs. When eggs are fertilized, they hatch. Otherwise, they will stay that way until they disintegrate entirely.
Hens produce only one half of the equation (eggs); roosters make the other half, sperm.
Here’s a video that explains whether hens can lay an egg without a rooster:
When Are Eggs Fertilized?
After beginning as a yolk in the ovary, an egg is fertilized inside the infundibulum, a funnel-shaped organ inside a hen’s female reproductive system that contains sperm cells from a rooster. Before exiting the hen’s vagina, the fertilized egg forms the albumen and outer shell.
We found a couple of facts earlier. They are;
- hens that can produce eggs even when no roosters are present, and
- unfertilized eggs cannot hatch.
Knowing that an egg can only be fertilized inside a hen’s belly is also essential. This demonstrates that once an egg is laid, its fate is sealed — it will hatch if fertilized (assuming the conditional needs are fulfilled) and will not if not.
In other words, if an egg is infertile, incubating it to make it hatch is pointless, as is refrigerating it to prevent it from hatching.
Long before it resembles an egg as we know it, a fertilized egg has been fertilized.
However, this does not guarantee that a fertilized egg contains a chick, particularly one that has just been laid. A chick must be exposed to the proper conditions to develop inside a fertilized egg.
This is where incubation comes into play, which can take two forms: the hen sitting on the eggs or the eggs being placed in an artificial incubator. Fertilized eggs must be incubated for 21 days at temperatures ranging from 99°F to 102°F (37.2°F to 38.9°F).
Can Eggs From a Farm Hatch?
Farm-purchased eggs can hatch only if roosters have access to the hens on the farm where they were purchased. In other words, some farm-purchased eggs are unfertilized and thus cannot hatch.
Typically, farm egg suppliers will inform customers whether or not their eggs have been fertilized.
To fertilize the eggs that hens lay, a rooster is necessary.
In most cases, it doesn’t matter where the eggs come from. The hens from which they are descended must have the opportunity to mate with roosters. And this is very likely the case with farm-bought eggs because they come from farms where both hens and roosters co-exist peacefully.
This is not to say that you should avoid farm eggs simply because you want to eat your eggs and not take care of chicks. That’s because there’s a straightforward step to prevent fertilized farm-bought eggs from hatching: put them in the fridge right away.
So, will those free-range eggs from the grocery store hatch?
Avoid presuming that just because eggs are unlimited, regardless of where you purchased them, they are fertilized and will hatch if you do not refrigerate them.
Simply put, free-range eggs are those produced by hens who have access to the outdoors. If the hens from which they come into contact with roosters, they are very likely to be fertilized. However, if free-range hens have no contact with roosters, their eggs are entirely unfertilized.
Is there a distinction between fertilized and nonfertilized eggs?
The main difference between fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs is that fertilized eggs can hatch while unfertilized eggs cannot. Fertilized and unfertilized eggs taste identical.
Eggs, fertilized or not, retain their high nutrition profile — they are high in protein and healthy fat.
Don’t worry if you like eggs because they make a variety of baked goods taste tremendous and almost any dish more nutritious, but you can’t tell if the ones you’re about to use are fertilized.
That’s because you can take advantage of them all. Fertilized eggs taste exactly like unfertilized eggs — your taste buds cannot distinguish between an egg that can hatch into a chick and an egg that will remain an egg forever.
Do you like eggs because of their nutrients?
The health-conscious among you will appreciate that fertilized and unfertilized eggs have the same nutritional profile.
In other words, whether fertilized or not, eggs are high in protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. You notice a difference when you crack open a fertilized egg and an unfertilized egg.
What you must do is carefully examine the yolk for a white mark.
| Vitamin A: | 6% of the RDA |
| Folate: | 5% of the RDA |
| Phosphorus: | 9% of the RDA |
| Selenium: | 22% of the RDA |
| Vitamin B2: | 15% of the RDA |
| Vitamin B5: | 7% of the RDA |
| Vitamin B12: | 9% of the RDA |
Is the white mark strictly a circle?
The egg you’re looking at is probably fertilized. If, on the other hand, the white mark is not beautifully round and would seem to be smaller, the egg is most likely unfertilized.
In Summary
- I’m sorry to have dashed your hopes of hatching an egg from a supermarket! Without all the necessary equipment, such as an incubator, a brooder, a lamp, etc. Starting to hatch chicks is not a good idea.
- At the very least, you’re now more aware of why supermarket eggs never hatch into chicks.
- The bottom line is that roosters do not play a role in egg production.
- They are, however, essential in fertilizing eggs inside hen bellies. The eggs laid by hens cannot be fertilized without roosters.