Question about twins

[CoffeeDrinker]

I just did my second hatch and ended up with three different varieties (there was only supposed to be one). I opened the eggs that didn't hatch. Some I feel should have hatched, they were fully formed and seemed ready to pip. But my surprise came when I opened an egg and there were twins but the twins were two different colors. One was black or dark brown and the other one yellow. I am new to this and know that twins hatching are like winning the lottery but why two different colors?

 

[Farmgal101]

I just did my second hatch and ended up with three different varieties (there was only supposed to be one). I opened the eggs that didn't hatch. Some I feel should have hatched, they were fully formed and seemed ready to pip. But my surprise came when I opened an egg and there were twins but the twins were two different colors. One was black or dark brown and the other one yellow. I am new to this and know that twins hatching are like winning the lottery but why two different colors?

That is crazy!!Do you have a picture?

 

[Laodicia]

I just did my second hatch and ended up with three different varieties (there was only supposed to be one). I opened the eggs that didn't hatch. Some I feel should have hatched, they were fully formed and seemed ready to pip. But my surprise came when I opened an egg and there were twins but the twins were two different colors. One was black or dark brown and the other one yellow. I am new to this and know that twins hatching are like winning the lottery but why two different colors?

do you have 2 roos? each ovum would have been fertilized separately.

 

[Kelly&Co]

I just did my second hatch and ended up with three different varieties (there was only supposed to be one). I opened the eggs that didn't hatch. Some I feel should have hatched, they were fully formed and seemed ready to pip. But my surprise came when I opened an egg and there were twins but the twins were two different colors. One was black or dark brown and the other one yellow. I am new to this and know that twins hatching are like winning the lottery but why two different colors?

Because they were two genetically unique chicks. Each had its own yolk with its own subset of the hen's genes and was fertilized separately. If you have multiple roosters, they could have different father's. Or the parents have a mix of light and dark genes and each inherited a different combination.

In order for there to be identical twins, the embryo on a single yolk would have to divide but then there wouldn't be nearly enough resources for both to develop.

 

[CoffeeDrinker]

I don't have pictures. I almost didn't show them to my husband but I thought about it before I got rid of them. We bought the eggs from a breeder. He was supposed to only give us A&M chicks and eggs. We ended up with one Italian and now at least three different varieties of chicks from the eggs. Thank you all for the information. I was really surprised that they were so fully formed to be twins and to be two different colors. This is a whole new world for me.

 

[Kat C]

Since someone took objection to me saying that double yolkers were not twins on another thread I will say it this way. They are siblings and if you want to call them fraternal twins because they are in the same shell you can but they are siblings just like human fraternal twins are siblings. Human fraternal twins can also have different fathers. Human fraternal twins look as different as normal siblings even with the same fathers. If you have a mixed flock with mutts or several varieties of birds you can get two different color chicks. I haven't found any reference to chickens having true identical chicks.

I hope some people who think it is a good idea to set double yolk eggs are reading this thread and noting that the chicks didn't hatch. Good idea to candle your eggs before incubating, especially if they are unusually large. You can just use a strong flashlight in a dark room to find out how many yolks you have.

 

[CoffeeDrinker]

I hope some people who think it is a good idea to set double yolk eggs are reading this thread and noting that the chicks didn't hatch. Good idea to candle your eggs before incubating, especially if they are unusually large. You can just use a strong flashlight in a dark room to find out how many yolks you have.

This egg didn't look any different than the others. We had one that I believed was a double yolk because of its' size, but this one was to similar in size to the larger eggs he gave us. It wasn't the biggest egg that we had and those all were single yolks. I haven't successfully candled any of the quail eggs that we have. I have tried and I can't see in the egg. I have found chicken eggs to be much easier.

 

[Kat C]

This egg didn't look any different than the others. We had one that I believed was a double yolk because of its' size, but this one was to similar in size to the larger eggs he gave us. It wasn't the biggest egg that we had and those all were single yolks. I haven't successfully candled any of the quail eggs that we have. I have tried and I can't see in the egg. I have found chicken eggs to be much easier.

Some chicken eggs are harder - green and dark brown ones. If you want better success at candling there are lots of info out there how to make one

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ndler-using-common-household-materials.47700/
here is a discussion on candling quail eggs
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/best-way-to-candle-quail-eggs.299856/