Double yolker - RIP little ones... Photos added of the egg opened

[duckyfromoz]

Around a week to go- And yes both babies are still alive and very active.


Im still not allowing myself to get too excited about it all- but I have been trying to think of names- and deciding how to brood them if they do hatch. It was the only egg I put into the incubator that day- So They will be on their own for a few days if they do hatch. At least that will make things much easier to be able to tell them apart from any others.

 

[desertdarlene]

It's possible that they might hatch early, I know that mammal twins are sometimes born early because of lack of space in the womb. Hopefully, if they do hatch, there's no deformities.

 

[katharinad]

Just had a super large egg myself. 109 grams! Thought it was a double yolker for sure, but could not see anything with my flash light. Wasn't in a dark room either. I'm not planning on hatching right now anyway. So I cracked it open for breakfast and to my surprise it was not a double yolker at all. Man that would have been one happy baby with all that room to spare.

 

[chickenboy7c2d]

Can't wait to see the rest of the photos

 

[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
Its a little different with those that hatch from an egg- they still have to absorb the yolk and blood from the veins before hatching to survive- and since that is part of a complexed sequence of events if they start to try to hatch too early they are much less likely to make it. There is plenty of room in the egg for two- but I am paying close attention to the air sac. I dont want them to loose to much moisture and not have the white of the egg to develope properly- but also making sure they dont have too much and drown before pipping.
That is one of the issues with setting overly large eggs like the one you said Kathrinad- a larger egg doesnt mean a larger duckling- and they will usually drown before pipping in an egg that size due to the excess fluid still in the egg. Dry incubation ( in a dry climate ) may help for the egg to loose enough moisture- but rather than the air cell taking 30% of the egg- it would need to be more like 50 % to allow the duckling to pip into the airsac once in the tucked position for hatching.

 

[jasonm11]

Hoping For The Best.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Thanks Jasonm11... oh and welcome to BYC.


Well its now only days until this special egg is due and I am really starting to get nervous. I have blinds in the room the incubator is in- and in the mornings the light does still shine through a bit. During the week I am up before the sun- so the room is still dark. But this morning after a sleep in- it was too light to candle properly. I did try, and got upset when I couldnt detect movement. I was sure that during the night they had died. I didnt give up all hope- and a few hours later I had another look. I did see movement that time and was SO relieved. The egg is too full to make out the two individual babies now - but as long as I can still see the one closer to the air cell moving I will breath easy.

 

[MooseHabit]

My first post is going to be here, and it's totally worth it! I am sitting on the edge of my seat reading this thread!!I really hope you take video when they hatch!

 

[xxSonja]

Duckyfromoz i only just found this thread, and now im excited!
Not long to go now, best of luck!
Have you had any more thoughts about names for the lil fuzzybutts if they both survive? Maybe you could make it a BYC naming contest?

On a technical side note... I dont know much about the genetics of these things but would both ducklings be the same sex? Or is it slightly possible that you would get one of each? Just curious.

 

[duckyfromoz]

Quote:
Moosehabit...You were the second person to have this thread as your first post!! Jasonm11 was the other...

Nothing like a double yolker to bring a few interested parties to follow a thread..


After the worry of this morning..I didnt candle tonight. I wanted to be able to go to sleep knowing the last time I checked they were still alive ) I did have a quick look at the other eggs and found a beak in the aircell of one. A bit earlier than the others- They arent due quite yet either but if my calculations are right- two days before the double yolker. I am so angry at myself now for not writing down when I set eggs. I even have a whiteboard I made up for my old incubator to record details of each egg. I will have to get back into using it as it was a great way of recording when they were set.