Chick Hatched From Supermarket Egg

Fri, 11 May 2007
 
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A nine-year-old boy hatched a chick after he experimented by incubating half a dozen free-range eggs, which his mother bought from a Waitrose supermarket store in Suffolk .

Miles Orford, from Great Ashfield waited three weeks before hearing a chirping sound from one of his Cotswold Leg Bar free range eggs.

Miles’s mum Sarah named the new chick Celia, after the boy’s 15-year-old sister. She bought the eggs from her local Waitrose supermarket.

"Miles has always been interested in chickens and when we saw an article about a man who had hatched a duck from supermarket eggs we decided to try it," she said.

"I didn't think it would work but I thought free range eggs would give us our best chance. And we had some quail eggs in the incubator but they didn't work."

"I have to say I was somewhat surprised. It's very interesting," she added.

Miles told how he feared the chick might not survive after hearing the chirping from inside the egg, but is now pleasantly surprised to see it running around.

"I've always loved chickens, they follow you around and they are always up to something. But I am not squeamish - I like chickens as pets and I eat them. But I wouldn't eat my own chickens, especially this one," he added.

It is still not known how the egg came to be fertilised.

A spokeswoman for the British Egg Information Service commented, "It is very uncommon because most, if not all, hens are farmed well away from cockerels. Even with rare breeds which might be kept in less controlled circumstances this is very unusual."

Waitrose said, "These eggs are from free range hens, and although an extremely rare occurrence, this hen must have come in contact with a cockerel at some point."

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