Any luck with double yolkers/twins?

[Tiana's chickens]

I think it's up to each individual to decide how they feel about the matter of weather to incubate double yokes or not. There is no real right or wrong here.
It could be seen as cruel and unethical to incubate an egg that is so unlikely to hatch and have normal chicks, but at the same time a broody hen doesn't discriminate which eggs she sits on and will incubate a double yoke egg the same as any other egg. I feel there are just as many arguments for as against and we shouldn't judge anyone for their own conscience decisions

 

[Kat C]

So after your chicks hatch do you put your baby chicks on lower than usual rations, less air and confined space just for the novelty of what happens. There is no need to set a double yolker. People express that they are doing it just to "see what happens" yet of course they would not deprive living chicks to "see what happens". Of course if someone did deprive new born chicks of food, air and space to "see what happens" we would label that unethical wouldn't we?

We get 80 to 100% hatch on eggs set under broody hens. Most people on this blog are using small incubators and don't have the money for incubators that hatch 2400 eggs nor would the be able to handle that many chicks. What do you do with that many?
Raising chicks with mommas seems to be the ultimate high for Backyard Chicken folks, not experimenting with eggs that are unlikely to hatch.

 

[Kat C]

I think it's up to each individual to decide how they feel about the matter of weather to incubate double yokes or not. There is no real right or wrong here.
It could be seen as cruel and unethical to incubate an egg that is so unlikely to hatch and have normal chicks, but at the same time a broody hen doesn't discriminate which eggs she sits on and will incubate a double yoke egg the same as any other egg. I feel there are just as many arguments for as against and we shouldn't judge anyone for their own conscience decisions

What is the argument for? All I have seen so far is that people "want to see what happens". The argument against has to do with two chicks confined to a shell that is larger but not double size so they develop all scrunched together. They have to get air through the shell but it is not double area so they are getting less air than a chick in a normal egg. Even human twins usually have low birth weight but most do OK because the mother can eat more. But that just happens. We get to choose which eggs to set unless a mother hen hides her nest. Since it is the norm in the wild for birds to have one chick in one egg I presume nature selects against hens who lay double yolk eggs eh? I just don't get the defensiveness about all this. If there are reasons for setting a double yolk egg other than the novelty of it, why do it? I see people on this site go to tremendous efforts for their chickens that are alive, why wouldn't they go to the effort of denying their urge for novelty for the sake of the unborn fetus. The only possible valid reason I can think of is if they simply don't have enough fertile eggs to set and so have to set the double yolker. But that is never the reason given. Come on folks, is the novelty worth that much?

BTW we had one hen hide a nest and come out with 21 chicks, we finally found the nest and there were no unhatched eggs.

 

[mdees88]

I just don't get the defensiveness about all this.

The reason is you came on here and started LABELING people that do not share your views....

Sharing your opinion is great, labeling others is not.... who made YOU the moral authority?

 

[mdees88]

Most people on this blog are using small incubators and don't have the money for incubators that hatch 2400 eggs nor would the be able to handle that many chicks. What do you do with that many?

I throw most of them away. J/K

I bought 4 older GQF cabinet incubators for $1000 and sold 2 to a friend.



In all honesty they are not expensive for what you're getting. They each hold 1200 quail eggs or around 250 chicken eggs. I keep one as a spare and sometimes I'll use both if I'm doing some staggered hatches.

I unnaturally hatch and raise orphaned, motherless coturnix quail for meat and eggs.... because I'm a bad person

 

[mdees88]

What is the argument for? All I have seen so far is that people "want to see what happens". The argument against has to do with two chicks confined to a shell that islarger but not double size so they develop all scrunched together. They have to get air through the shell but it is not double area so they are getting less air than a chick in a normal egg.

Ill try this one last time BUT you need to be open minded to see other people's views. The argument FOR setting a double yolker is simple. Answer the following questions truthfully...

Are YOU, as a human being, happy to be alive?

Would YOU, as a human being, have rather not been born, never existed, ever?

What if doctors told your mom if she tried to get pregnant there would be a 97% chance that she would have a miscarriage? They give you a 3% chance of surviving birth.

Is a 3% chance of bringing you into this world worth the risk? Remember there's a 97% chance you'll die trying...

But you are alive today, right? And healthy too? You beat the odds. So are you happy your mom went through with the pregnancy? Are you happy she took the risk, against all odds? I would think so....

Do you think the double yolk chicks would like a fighting chance at being able to LIVE in this world, even if the odds are stacked against them?

I think they would......

 

[lazy gardener]

To each his own. IMO, it is unethical. You are entitled to your own ethics.

 

[mdees88]

To each his own. IMO, it is unethical. You are entitled to your own ethics.

Yes, and honestly I could care less either way. I've never set any double yolkers because they have a very low hatch rate. Why would I set one of them when I could set a normal egg instead?


I actually DO agree with most of Kat C's reasoning but I DO NOT AGREE with her coming on here and preaching ethics, acting moraly superior to someone else, justifying her view while implying anyone who disagrees with them is immoral....


She comes off as an elitest.... i mean read this post

Raising chicks with mommas seems to be the ultimate high for Backyard Chicken folks, not experimenting with eggs that are unlikely to hatch.

She basically said "I'm fulfilling the highest achievent in the poultry world by hatching eggs with my hen, and look at you... your just causing pain and suffering with your "expirements". That's what I got out of it.


Kat C said there is no argument FOR hatching a double yolker. All I did is give her one....


Like you said, to each his own.....


Let's get back to hatching double yolkers please....

 

[Kat C]

Ill try this one last time BUT you need to be open minded to see other people's views. The argument FOR setting a double yolker is simple. Answer the following questions truthfully...

Are YOU, as a human being, happy to be alive?

Would YOU, as a human being, have rather not been born, never existed, ever?

What if doctors told your mom if she tried to get pregnant there would be a 97% chance that she would have a miscarriage? They give you a 3% chance of surviving birth.

Is a 3% chance of bringing you into this world worth the risk? Remember there's a 97% chance you'll die trying...

But you are alive today, right? And healthy too? You beat the odds. So are you happy your mom went through with the pregnancy? Are you happy she took the risk, against all odds? I would think so....

Do you think the double yolk chicks would like a fighting chance at being able to LIVE in this world, even if the odds are stacked against them?

I think they would......

I doubt you can hear this, but if every egg has a right to be fertilized no woman should use birth control and she should attempt to have every baby she possibly can in her years of fertility. She should shoot for having 1 a year starting right after her first ovulation. Surely you don't mean that. Surely you are not going to start advocating for teenagers to have kids.
If every egg has a right to become a chick then everyone here should get much bigger incubators and try to hatch every fertile egg while not eating a single egg. And if you have hens but no roosters you should get some roosters so no egg goes unfertilized. That of course is absurd but that is what your comment would suggest if you think it through.
I never called anyone immoral. I did not label anyone but I did agree with the poster who first used the word unethical for setting a double yolker. I am not labeling people but calling out their actions for examination. I would hope that people would be able to think calmly about it and realize that the novelty of hatching two chicks from one egg is not worth the risk that both will die and if they live they will have a less than optimal start on life. In fact we never set any eggs from a hen until she is over 1 year old even though she starts laying at 6 months because the chicks are smaller since the eggs are smaller. There is NOT a shortage of unfertilized eggs that are normal and don't get to have a life.
And if my mother was told there was a 97% chance of miscarriage and she would die trying to birth me I would expect her to use birth control and not take the risk She would owe that to her husband and other children. If I was never conceived I wouldn't know the difference. Its a big non issue for me. I am alive. If I wasn't I wouldn't know.

 

[Kat C]

"A broody hen is the absolute best way to hatch chicks for you and your flock. She will do all the work, she’ll have a better hatch rate than you ever will, and, best of all, no stinky brooders to clean up. It can be nerve wrecking when you let a broody hatch for you the first time, especially if you’ve bought her really expensive hatching eggs. Hopefully this guide will help take you through it and put your mind at ease." https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks.65989/