Japanese Blogger Claims To Hatch Quail From Supermarket Egg

A rumor has been going around Japan that it is possible to hatch live quail chicks from eggs bought at the supermarket, and now some bloggers are saying they've done just that.

According to Rocket News 24, quail eggs are very popular for snacks and bento in Japan, and they can be found for sale at almost any supermarket. And for some time now a rumor has been going around that one quail egg out of every box is fertilized, which would mean that a person with the right equipment to keep the eggs at the proper temperature could conceivably hatch his or her own fuzzy baby quail chick. It sounds like an urban legend, but apparently a blogger going by Lenosuke claims to have photographic evidence of a live quail born from supermarket eggs.

Lenosuke reportedly bought 17 quail eggs and five chicken eggs and set them all up in a comfy styrofoam incubator kept at a temperature of 100 degrees. About 17 days later, one of the quail eggs hatched. While a fertilized egg could easily have been slipped in with the others to play a trick on the Internet, Lenosuke definitely has a large box of eggs and a baby quail now, and the photos reportedly have been inspiring other bloggers to try to hatch their own supermarket eggs. While the baby chick is undeniably adorable, it is unclear what the bloggers intend to do with their live quail pets if they do manage to successfully hatch them.