Egg hatching INSIDE of another egg? Twins?

[PalmRoyal]

I went out to my barn to check on the muscovies that are hatching (I allow my animals to do natural incubation) and gather up the eggshells. Low and behold, I found an egg inside of another newly hatched duckling's egg. So I pulled the inner egg out and helped it get a good start by taking the cap off for it (it looked like it had been struggling) and set it back under the mom. This was definably an odd thing to happen.
How common are instances like this? I've read about twins where there is two babies in a single egg, but an egg inside of another egg?
This is not the only thing weird to happen with my eggs this year. I had a turkey egg that had formed two membranes on the inside of the egg (unfortunately I could not get to it in time and it had died).

 

[darkbluespace]

I would bet that the egg just rolled into another shell of a chick that had already hatched.... they do that all the time! It is good to notice it because it can make it extra hard for the egg to hatch.

When there are twins... they are generally in one shell. It is possible for an egg with shell to be inside another egg, but that is very rare and the inner egg usually doesn't even have a yolk.

 

[donrae]

I've had an intact egg roll into the half or halves of an already hatched egg a couple times. They can get pretty suctioned in there, too! Sounds like what happened here. Just mechanics, nothing weird with the eggs. If one egg had formed inside another inside the hen, and somehow the chick did manage to develop, the outer shell wouldn't break first.

 

[Violetsrblu]

Video of a huge chicken egg that had another egg in it

:

 

[PalmRoyal]

Thanks for all of the replies! I thought it was very odd and peculiar that there was a second egg inside the other egg, but apparently it just fell in. Silly me!

 

[Shadow920]

does anyone know if an actual egg within an egg can hatch?

 

[junebuggena]

does anyone know if an actual egg within an egg can hatch?

No. Not enough room for a healthy chick to develop.

 

[EGBDF]

I went out to my barn to check on the muscovies that are hatching (I allow my animals to do natural incubation) and gather up the eggshells. Low and behold, I found an egg inside of another newly hatched duckling's egg. So I pulled the inner egg out and helped it get a good start by taking the cap off for it (it looked like it had been struggling) and set it back under the mom. This was definably an odd thing to happen.
How common are instances like this? I've read about twins where there is two babies in a single egg, but an egg inside of another egg?
This is not the only thing weird to happen with my eggs this year. I had a turkey egg that had formed two membranes on the inside of the egg (unfortunately I could not get to it in time and it had died).

I had a turkey recently hatch 8 chicks . When cleaning the nest I had found an egg with 2 shells as you had . I do have a picture . Still researching what to call it . Glad I found your story .

 

[Lois Phypers]

I would bet that the egg just rolled into another shell of a chick that had already hatched.... they do that all the time! It is good to notice it because it can make it extra hard for the egg to hatch.

When there are twins... they are generally in one shell. It is possible for an egg with shell to be inside another egg, but that is very rare and the inner egg usually doesn't even have a yolk.

Not true my chicken just laid her 5th egg inside another egg. Each one has 2 yolks

 

[gimmie birdies]

The inner egg can happen, but both would die before hatch.