Giant egg - can I incubate?

[Tannerpauldean]

My welsh harlequin, Myffanwy, laid an unusually large egg on Saturday morning (pic is of her egg on Friday compared to that on Saturday). I am planning on setting some duck eggs this weekend, and am considering adding this egg to the mix. The thing is, I will likely have to remove one of my racks to accommodate, due to the large size, which means fewer eggs will fit in the bator. Is it worth trying?

Even if the egg is fertile, will it grow to term? And if it is a double-yolked egg, does that mean twins? I love the idea of having twins, or one giant duckling (imagine Baby Huey), but will it even survive?

 

[PirateGirl]

If you candle it now you should be able to tell if it's a double yolker.

 

[casportpony]

The experts say not to incubate abnormally large or small eggs, double yolkers, or poorly shaped eggs, so if that were my egg, I would eat it, because incubating normal eggs is stressful enough, so why add something else to worry about.

 

[Fishkeeper]

I wouldn't incubate it. The shell might be abnormally thick and make it harder for the chick to hatch, or it might be a double-yolker. Double yolks are bad. They have a much higher chance of dying in the shell at some point, or failing to hatch, than surviving. I think most of the time that a double-yolk egg successfully hatches, it's because one twin absorbed the other early on, which, in addition to only yielding one chick, carries a risk of internal issues from the absorbed chick not being absorbed fully and leaving a leg or whatnot in somewhere a leg shouldn't be.

 

[Ryder]

My welsh harlequin, Myffanwy, laid an unusually large egg on Saturday morning (pic is of her egg on Friday compared to that on Saturday). I am planning on setting some duck eggs this weekend, and am considering adding this egg to the mix. The thing is, I will likely have to remove one of my racks to accommodate, due to the large size, which means fewer eggs will fit in the bator. Is it worth trying?

Even if the egg is fertile, will it grow to term? And if it is a double-yolked egg, does that mean twins? I love the idea of having twins, or one giant duckling (imagine Baby Huey), but will it even survive?
View attachment 1713976

I say go for it I had a double yolk hatch before but it was a chicken

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I wouldn't incubate it. The shell might be abnormally thick and make it harder for the chick to hatch, or it might be a double-yolker. Double yolks are bad. They have a much higher chance of dying in the shell at some point, or failing to hatch, than surviving. I think most of the time that a double-yolk egg successfully hatches, it's because one twin absorbed the other early on, which, in addition to only yielding one chick, carries a risk of internal issues from the absorbed chick not being absorbed fully and leaving a leg or whatnot in somewhere a leg shouldn't be.

I am having trouble getting that image out of my mind - a duck with its sibling's leg sticking out of its abdomen.

 

[Tannerpauldean]

I say go for it I had a double yolk hatch before but it was a chicken

Did you have to assist in any way, or did it hatch on its own? Incubator or broody hen?

 

[Loopeend]

Love your duck's name.

Like you said; you need to remove a part of the incubator, meaning their is less room for eggs. If this means you have to throw fertile eggs away for this egg; I would personally not do it.
If it does nót mean you have to throw out mutiple eggs for this 1 egg; I would give it a go.

 

[Gray Farms]

I personally wouldn't. Abnormal eggs tend to produce abnormal chicks/ducklings "if they survive". Its best not to incubate abnormal eggs to avoid future problems.

 

[Tannerpauldean]

Love your duck's name.

Like you said; you need to remove a part of the incubator, meaning their is less room for eggs. If this means you have to throw fertile eggs away for this egg; I would personally not do it.
If it does nót mean you have to throw out mutiple eggs for this 1 egg; I would give it a go.

Thanks! My wife has trouble pronouncing it.

My incubator holds 41 eggs in the turning racks, and only 25 eggs laying flat. I would end up throwing out (or just eating) 6 eggs to accommodate this one egg, in addition to adding the hassle of turning the egg manually several times a day (I incubated once with hand turning - it was a pain to keep up with). The more I think about it the more I rationalize not incubating it.

But then again... if I incubated it and if twins hatched out of it, I'm sure I could get on the local news. How cool would that be? "Local duck farm hatches out twins from single egg" It would be a whole thing.