A video of a clutch of chicks that appears to have hatched from dumped eggs in Pakistan is viral as Gujarat on social media in the backdrop of the COVID-19 lockdown. The video shows countless chicks flocking the deserted roads, as two men stop their vehicle to record it.
People can be heard speaking in Urdu in the background. The video is viral with claims that the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted the stock of perishable food items, which were wasted due to a steep decline among buyers. The Indian government announced a nationwide lockdown of three weeks on March 24, to curb the transmission of the novel Coronavirus.
The video has been captioned as, "Eggs which were thrown as waste in Gujarat, India because of corona, after one week hatched. The creation of nature."
BOOM received the video on its helpline along with messages both in Marathi and English for verification.
It was also tweeted by Kiran Bedi, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, though Bedi did not specify the location.
Eggs which were thrown as waste because of corona , after one week hatched . The creation of nature 🤔
— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) April 5, 2020
(Fwded) Life has its own mysterious ways.. pic.twitter.com/H7wMQqc7jc
Also Read: Video Of Birds Flocking In Ahmedabad Not Linked To COVID-19 Lockdown
Fact Check
Taking cue from Urdu words BOOM ran a keyword search with "Thousand Chicks hatch from egg in Pakistan" and found two YouTube videos which were uploaded on March 27, 2020 and March 30, 2020 respectively. The description of the videos stated that the incident happened in Surjani Town of Karachi.
Upon further keyword search, we were directed to the same video which was uploaded on Facebook. The posts identified the location as Surjani Town, Karachi. Click here and here for the archive.
We also found two news reports by local channels Mianwalinews and GNN that reported about the incident during the same time. According the news report, the eggs which were dumped near the area for being spoilt, hatched on their own because of the favourable temperature.
Can incubation take place in open?
There are two types of eggs: fertile and infertile. The 'table eggs', which we eat, are infertile and hence are fit to be consumed. On the other hand, fertile eggs are produced by farms for reproduction of broiler chickens. BOOM contacted Dr Barun Roy, departmental professor of Animal Nutrition, West Bengal University of Animal and Fisheries Sciences. Roy disputed the claim of the video and exclaimed, "Chicks cannot hatch from eggs as shown in the video. If one or two also hatch, they eventually die. Commercial poultry breeding farm could have dropped the chicks there after they hatched as the price has plummeted during the lockdown period."
In June, 2018, a similar video was viral in Georgia where poultry farmers threw hundreds of eggs which eventually hatched. Read Daily Mail's report here.
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