Should I incubate these or not?

[Fluffyflufffluff]

I ordered some BCM eggs and got these. A couple of them are massive and I’m worried they’re double yolk. Do I incubate them and run the risk or do I get rid of them? I worry about what can happen with double yolkers.

I wonder why you worry! It's fine to have double yolks. It's still gonna be the same type of egg. they are not gonna be like a twin chick because of that hahaha!!!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I wonder why you worry! It's fine to have double yolks. It's still gonna be the same type of egg. they are not gonna be like a twin chick because of that hahaha!!!

Well that's the thing, both of the yolks can be fertilized and produce two chicks. Unfortunately this often results in two dead embryos, or one early quitter that later make the egg a toxic environment for the second chick, also leading to two dead embryos. In very rare cases two chicks will hatch successfully or one chick will survive. In a worst case scenario, that I have only seen once, the larger chick absorbed the smaller chick along with the yolk sac and surgery had to be performed to remove the still living, kicking and peeping second chick from inside the other. I never did get an update on whether either survived but I've never been able to get that image out of my mind...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I wonder why you worry! It's fine to have double yolks. It's still gonna be the same type of egg. they are not gonna be like a twin chick because of that hahaha!!!

It would be twins till one or both die in the shell.
Each fertilized yolk will have a blastoderm potentially developing into an embryo.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10070/Never a good idea to try to take double yolk eggs to term.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well that's the thing, both of the yolks can be fertilized and produce two chicks. Unfortunately this often results in two dead embryos, or one early quitter that later make the egg a toxic environment for the second chick, also leading to two dead embryos. In very rare cases two chicks will hatch successfully or one chick will survive. In a worst case scenario, that I have only seen once, the larger chick absorbed the smaller chick along with the yolk sac and surgery had to be performed to remove the still living, kicking and peeping second chick from inside the other. I never did get an update on whether either survived but I've never been able to get that image out of my mind...

X2
And even with the best case scenario, surviving chicks are still compromised because of the size of the living quarters. Mammals and other live bearers abdomens can expand to accommodate the growing embryos. Those embryos can get the nutrients they need from the mother. In eggs, that is all the nutrition there will ever be and it isn't enough for two. Oxygen is another problem as it may be insufficient for two embryos.
That is the reason there are no twins in nature in egg laying species. Even if an individual was genetically predisposed to produce multiple yolk eggs, they wouldn't survive, thereby eliminating that genetic propensity in future generations.

 

[siannabee]

Updating. I put the smallest 5 eggs into the incubator but because the eggs were
So big and my incubator is so small I couldn’t fit them all anyway unfortunately.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Updating. I put the smallest 5 eggs into the incubator but because the eggs were
So big and my incubator is so small I couldn’t fit them all anyway unfortunately.

Since they don't fit in your incubator did you crack them open to see if they're actually double yolkers?

 

[siannabee]

I did. No doubles just massive yolks.

 

[siannabee]

I meant to update earlier but didn’t get to it. Only 2 of the 5 hatch. The air sacs were terribly saddled. One of the two pipped on the wrong end but managed to make it out on its own. Now just hoping I get two pullets.