We’re told time and again that supermarket eggs won’t hatch.
Photo by Karen Arnold via PublicDomainPictures.net
This makes good sense, seeing as how the vast majority of commercial laying hens never come close to a rooster.
Photo courtesy of Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento do Estado de São Paulo via Wikimedia Commons
(Basic biological fact: hens lay eggs without the help of roosters, period. However, in order to produce a chick, an egg must be fertilized by a rooster.)
All that said, consider the curious case of Albert.
Albert began as a twinkle in the eye of a man in the Netherlands named Alwyn Wils who decided to test the theory of infertile supermarket eggs.
“On the Internet, it says everywhere that supermarket eggs are not fertilized, but I thought, ‘Let’s see if that’s really the case,’” he told The Telegraph.
He picked up a dozen quail eggs from a local supermarket and incubated them at home.
Surprise!
One egg hatched, and out came Albert.
This story may inspire queasiness in the ovo vegetarian lot, but Alwyn Wils sees it differently. “Friends and family think Albert is very cool,” he said, “and they think it’s great way of thinking that not everything is impossible if you give it a try sometimes.”
Meet Albert the unlikely quail …
Who knew this could really happen? I love the story of little Albert!!
I read about little Albert- who knew that Quail eggs were sold fresh in the Netherlands? hey Winnie, you are headed there soon aren’t you? Be on the lookout for them.
Lisa~ As a matter of fact, I will be in Amsterdam May 6-7 so I will be sure to look out for a store to see if they carry Quail eggs. I will let you know if I do when we return.
Neato, too bad you can’t bring them home and try it. I bet after Albert all the quail eggs are flying off the shelves now.
Oh be sure to watch all the Albert videos, too cute! I just love him!
This is so cool and he is such a cute little quail! I almost want to try and see if any of the eggs I buy would hatch. It’s crazy how nothing is impossible.
I would think since it was a quail egg maybe they are raised differently? Possibly with a male around? I don’t know the difference in how chickens are raised there but I doubt it is the same as here in the states. Well the ones for producing eggs for retail.