Twins?

[Pixie16]

This is my first time incubating chicken eggs and I think we have twins. The egg didn’t seem to be big like a double yolker but it was bought from someone to hatch and I’ve never had this breed before-Ayam Cemini-so I’m not sure how big their eggs typically are. I wish I could upload the video because there is definitely movement from both dark spots. When I first candled I couldn’t tell if it was two or just one moving stuff around. But today it looked like they were moving independently. We’re at day 8. Is this twins? Or am I just missing something as a newbie haha?

ETA: uploaded videos to YouTube:

 

[GodLovesU]

I’m not saying it’s not twins, but this has happened to a lot of people lately, and none of the eggs (that I know of) actually ended up being twins.

 

[Pixie16]

I’m not saying it’s not twins, but this has happened to a lot of people lately, and none of the eggs (that I know of) actually ended up being twins.

I mean, I have no idea haha. This is my first time so I’m basically guessing at what I’m looking at. I know that with a lot of twins, one twin dies early and is absorbed. So maybe they start out as twins then lose one along the way? I just wondered if someone more experienced could say, yes, it’s two and here’s what to prepare for.. Or no, that’s just the normal xyz, and then I’d know for the next time we start this process. Either way, I’m just hoping we get one chick from it, as my 10yo has claimed this egg/chick as his own

 

[HonkABC]

It is most likely not twins, there as there is only one amniotic sac. Along with that, in the video, when one goes down, the other goes up. The reason it looks like twins is because part of its body is covered by the yolk.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I wish you could ultrasound eggs, in mammals you can see two heads, Siamese twins, and other issues pretty early on but that shell isn’t going to be helpful to say nothing of directly exposing an embryo to nearby ultrasound waves! I’d love to see twins develop, but while possible to get live chicks it is unlikely so for the chicks sake let’s hope it’s just a u shaped yolk/embryo complex, not as cool but better prognosis!

 

[WoDia]

@Pixie16 An embryo will take on a u-shape during development that can be mistaken for twins. Both parts will even appear to move independently of each other, giving the impression that there are 2 embryos. I see only 1 eye on the right side of the egg in the videos. The lower half of the body is curved around the other side. I’ve had twins develop in a few double yolk Bobwhite eggs (incubated by the hen), and the first embryo passed fairly early during the first week, and the 2nd one not long after. It’s rare and amazing for twin chicks to both make it to hatch. Let us know how yours turns out. Photos are always welcome.

 

[Pixie16]

Thank you all for the input! I can see the curve of the chick after you mention it. I grabbed it out for a sec to see if I could tell anything about the eyes and got these. I can definitely see one chick clearly! Not so sure about the other blob and if the darker spot is an eye. It definitely doesn’t look as much like the clear chick tonight, so maybe it is just one in there.

I guess we will just have to try to put away our curiosity for now and play the waiting game.

 

[Pixie16]

I wish you could ultrasound eggs, in mammals you can see two heads, Siamese twins, and other issues pretty early on but that shell isn’t going to be helpful to say nothing of directly exposing an embryo to nearby ultrasound waves! I’d love to see twins develop, but while possible to get live chicks it is unlikely so for the chicks sake let’s hope it’s just a u shaped yolk/embryo complex, not as cool but better prognosis!

Yes, my kiddos each got 3 eggs to incubate. Each one picked an Ayam

I wish you could ultrasound eggs, in mammals you can see two heads, Siamese twins, and other issues pretty early on but that shell isn’t going to be helpful to say nothing of directly exposing an embryo to nearby ultrasound waves! I’d love to see twins develop, but while possible to get live chicks it is unlikely so for the chicks sake let’s hope it’s just a u shaped yolk/embryo complex, not as cool but better prognosis!

Yes! I hope it is. All of my kiddos got to pick 3 eggs to incubate. They each got one Ayam Cemani and of course this is one of those eggs. My boy was devastated when I told him that if it was twins there was a good chance they wouldn’t survive. My kids all know that’s a chance as we’ve had baby chicks die, and we talked about hatch rates before we started, but he was the one that really wanted the “cool all black chicken”. I definitely should have gotten a couple extra AC eggs for this situation.

 

[Pixie16]

Here is our day 14 candling of this same egg. Still looks different from its incubator mates. Is this a blood ring? We still have movement. This egg just continues to confuse me

 

[Toothpick]

I'd say only 1 chick in there.

Quit playing with it now and let it hatch. See what happens.