Any luck with double yolkers/twins?

[gimmie birdies]

According to the chicken hatching bible... Gail Damerow's "Hatching and Brooding Your Own Chicks" most eggs will explode on day 12, something to look out for, a lady on another page said she pulled an egg on day 11 because it stank, and she said it was a rotten egg ready to explode.

 

[lilmillefleur]

That is because they are siblings, not twins. It is just that the body of the hen made a mistake and enclosed two yolks in one shell. They are just siblings with one shell creating sub optimal conditions for a hatch.

I would consider them fraternal twins

 

[Kat C]

I would consider them fraternal twins

Since all eggs in an incubator or under a mother hen hatch at the same time, any that have the same mother and father are siblings or could be called fraternal twins. If a hen has access to two roosters or more the chicks in the double yolker might not even have the same father (I guess that can happen with human fraternal twins). So you can call them fraternal twins, but they aren't any different than if the two eggs had gotten the proper two shells. Semantics! My point is they are not genetic duplicates just egg laying mistakes. But if you want to call them twins then all the chicks laid by that hen in that clutch are also fraternal twins eh? So what is the point of setting an egg that has a high likelihood of not hatching and deprives the developing chicks of nutrition, air and space. So it seems to me that getting this straight helps prevent people from seeing a double yolker as special and instead see it as a mistake. Again, those two chicks are not genetic twins, they are two siblings who unluckily got entrapped in one shell.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Right Puff!

 

[lazy gardener]

Personally, I'd not be "setting a double just for the novelty of it". Agreed with @JaeG and @casportpony on this. Better to set eggs that have good chance of viability than to set an egg that has a very good likelihood of resulting in death for one or both embryo.

 

[lazy gardener]

This non closing of the bellies is called omphalitis or mushy chick disease
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/mushy-chick-disease-yolk-sack-infection-omphalitis.64686/

May be an issue of semantics, but omphalitis is an infection. While non closure of the abdomen around the umbilicus can correct it'self in time, omphalitis is usually lethal.

So what is the point of setting an egg that has a high likelihood of not hatching and deprives the developing chicks of nutrition, air and space. So it seems to me that getting this straight helps prevent people from seeing a double yolker as special and instead see it as a mistake. Again, those two chicks are not genetic twins, they are two siblings who unluckily got entrapped in one shell.

Agreed. IMO, it boils down to making an ethical decision. IMO, setting an egg that has little chance of producing a viable chick is not an ethical decision.

 

[Kat C]

May be an issue of semantics, but omphalitis is an infection. While non closure of the abdomen around the umbilicus can correct it'self in time, omphalitis is usually lethal.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/omphalitis/overview-of-omphalitis-in-poultry
"Omphalitis is a condition characterized by infected yolk sacs, often accompanied by unhealed navels in young fowl. It is infectious but noncontagious " So an unhealed navel can be caused by the Omphalitis infection. But the Chicken Healthy Handbook also lists problems with incubation temps and humidity as causing rough navels and un-absorbed yolks. So I stand corrected sort of. Omphalitis can cause unhealed navels but is not the only cause of unhealed navels. But IMO the unhealed navel means something is wrong with the chicks, even if they survive.

 

[featherhead007]

I’ve got no problems assisting. Have had to step in numerous times over the years, I’ve just never gotten a double before. I’m kind of excited

WoW, That's eggsighting!

 

[Farm boy 14]

THATS REALLY COOL! MAKE SURE HAVE MORE EGGS TO INCUBATE BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE IF IT WILL HATCH.

 

[Rubysword]

If you incubate it, they will likely develop their notochord(the thing that allows for the perception of pain) before they die a painful death. I don't think that it would be ethical to incubate them with these odds.