AN Innerleithen family were left shell-shocked after one of their supermarket eggs hatched.

It was an early Easter surprise for Fiona Scott of Leithen Road, who decided to incubate a tray of eggs instead of asking her family if they wanted them poached or fried.

Chicken breeder Fiona purchased the eggs from Tesco in Galashiels as a one-off due to her flock not laying in the cold weather.

Fiona’s cracking discovery began when she selected an unrecognisable range of eggs. She explained: “I noticed in the Tesco’s Finest range that the eggs were named breeds, so that immediately caught my eye. I picked up a box of Chestnut Maran and there isn’t such a breed so I was very curious.

“When I opened the box I noticed bits of feather and straw stuck to them and realised they hadn’t been through the washing process. I wondered if this select group of chickens ran with a rooster so we Googled it and were right enough.”

Although it is nearly impossible for store-bought eggs to hatch because of their lack of fertilisation, Fiona decided to wing it and pop them in her incubator in hope that at least one would hatch.

She told us: “I waited a few days and then I candled them with my torch and could see a little embryo inside one of the eggs. I panicked because there were none in any of the rest of the eggs, so I ran out to my Polish hens and grabbed one of their eggs and stuck it in alongside it as I didn’t want the chick to be on its own. A lonely chick can be very loud as it calls out for company.”

And 21 days later, their new family addition arrived – aptly named Tesco!

Fiona said: “I didn’t really think it was going to work. The eggs had been through a sizing and stamping process, and normally if I’m collecting my eggs to hatch I’ll gather them and turn them to stop the yolk from settling, because that’s what the embryo is on.

“Obviously they had been sitting in a shop and I’m guessing they may even have been in a refrigerated lorry. All of these things would normally kill off any chance of anything developing in the egg. But it defied all the odds and hatched!”

The family’s feathered friend has been a social media sensation, with friends and family checking Tesco’s progress.

Fiona’s husband Colin let the supermarket know of their fuzzy arrival by sending them a message on Twitter.

Tesco tweeted the family back saying: “You must be yolking! How eggciting! Do you know how to raise a chicken or are you just going to wing it!”

Fiona added: “We didn’t think anything was going to happen, usually once they are laid you’ve got about seven to ten days and after that the fertility drops off, so it shows that Tesco have got very fresh eggs because it wouldn’t have worked if they had been any older.”

Describing the exact moment Tesco the chick hatched, Fiona said: “On day 20 I could hear it cheeping and by the end of day it had pipped, so that is it pushing its way out. On day 21, I grabbed my camera and caught it finally pushing itself out."

The family are 'eggstatic' that baby Tesco didn’t end up on their breakfast plate. “I think its saving grace was that it was listed as a special breed and it wasn’t put through the wash process, this is the reason I was curious and decided to try it,” added Fiona.

Asked if she would ever hatch a plan to crack open another supermarket chick, Fiona chirped: “I would maybe give it a try with quail. My friends keep telling me to buy a pack from each store, who knows, I might end up with a Chicken Lidl!”