(My First Double Yolker!!!) Keeping updated... RESULTS OF CANDLING

[Cavendish Chickens]

It would be twins. And that would be cool if it hatches.

 

[HEChicken]

I just went into lockdown on my first hatch but I've been turning by just tilting the whole incubator (resting one end on a thick book). That way I've only had to open the incubator times in the first 18 days to add a little water when humidity was getting low. Perhaps you could use this method of turning while incubating the double yoker, since it will be too big to fit into an egg carton?

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

That's an idea. But I'd have to find a way to do that so the water doesn't spill or get the egg wet. Thank you

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
I would turn like any other egg since the goal is not to let the egg stick to one side or the other.

 

[kvmommy]

I just had 24 eggs, 2 of each breed, and 1 of each on grate, and 1 of each in carton. No pips or nothing from the carton eggs, 6 pips, 5 live chicks from the floor. So...I don't see why you couldn't just keep it on the floor if it doesn't fit the carton. Then you're not tipping it and risking getting it wet...just turning. I don't have any real experience, I just think it would work just fine.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

I saw the video of the one that hatched but can't find that thread now. She had to very carefully and meticulously help them out. From what I've read on here, it seems that most do not make it.

 

[CDennis]

Best of luck!

 

[spiritdance]

I hatched a double yolker in my second ever hatch, but only one chick made it, and he was soooo tiny. The other chick was dead in the shell, and it looked like it tried to internally pip on the wrong end and drowned. I didn't even realize it was a double yolker until over halfway through incubation. I was candling all the eggs and realized this one, which was larger than the others, was waaaay fuller than the others. (It barely fit the carton, so initially I had cut out the bump in between two cups and put a smaller egg next to it, and they both rode out the process fine).You know that point at about day 10 or 12 when you can see the air bubble up top, then a little of the albumen with the vein network, then the dark chick moving around in the bottom? Well, this one was full to the air bubble, with frantic little movements top and bottom. Hubbie mentioned double yolkers, and we shrugged and kept doing what we'd been doing ... tilting the egg shelf (with the eggs in the egg tray on it) in the 'bator 3 times a day, keeping the temp and humidity right, and then we locked down on day 18 as usual. The double yolker was the last to pip (on day 22 - we had about given up on it), and I confess I helped the chick that pipped out, as he didn't have any room to turn in the shell. I just peeled back the shell (not the membrane) enough to let him get a bit of movement and then kept the membrane moist. He eventually picked his way out of the shell, and under him was the dead chick, head to the wrong end of the shell and with a head that didn't look quite right (a little flat over one eye, beak a bit crooked ... I assume from overcrowding in the shell). The chick that lived is healthy and happy today, and he caught up to his clutch mates in size by about week 3 or 4. He's a sexlink roo, so normally he would be freezer bound, but I just can't bring myself to do it because of the circumstances around his hatching. I don't know if this helps any, but I figured I'd share the experience in case it does. I've found since then that it's rare for even one chick to survive, so I guess turning it in the carton worked out alright.

 

[Cavendish Chickens]

That was very helpful. Thank you. I was going to place the egg in the bator today, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow. Giving a hatch/due date of around the 19th. I think I will lay it on it's side, so if it does develop... maybe both chicks will have an air sack. This egg is super big. Now, the question is... how should I go about turning it like that without using my bare hands. Hmmm.... Maybe I can use a paper towel or something?

 

[spiritdance]

Others may have a different experience with this, but I've never worried about using my bare hands to handle an egg. I candle them at day 8, day 12, and day 16 to find culls (no exploding eggs here, thank you very much!!

), and I don't think it's impacted my hatch rate, which is consistently around 85 to 90%. If you can get in and out of the 'bator quick without too much heat loss (some thermal mass in the 'bator like a brick, some gravel, etc., seems to help me with this) then you should just be able to rotate it by hand. At any rate, I'll be rooting for you to have more success than me. Maybe since you know it's a double going in, that'll make a difference. I was such a newbie with mine that I just never thought about a double yolker and sort of just accidentally got lucky with the one live chick. I've consciously culled out any I suspect of being doubles since then because the sight of that one little dead chick has bothered me ever since. I've lost other chicks, of course, and they all bother me a bit, but for some reason that one more so than the others. I guess it's because I've always wondered if I'd been more experienced if I might have saved it. Logic and research tell me otherwise, but the heart feels what it feels ...