# egg Q for chicken raisers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152 "2014-02-24T21:22:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/1 "2014-02-24T21:22:33Z")
I had a surprise this morning… a double yolk egg. The two yolks seemed to have about the same volume as the single yolk eggs. This made me wonder, do fertile double yolk eggs hatch two live chicks? It seems like the yolks wouldn’t be sufficient to feed each chick and the hard shell would restrict growth. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/2 "2014-02-24T22:27:06Z")
IANACR, but wikipedia has this to say: > [@](#): > > Double-yolk eggs occur when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk becomes joined with another yolk. These eggs may be the result of a young hen’s reproductive cycle not yet being synchronized.[8] > > Double-yolked eggs usually lead to observed successful hatchlings only under human intervention, as the chickens interfere with each other’s hatching process and die.[9] > > Higher-order yolks are rare, although heavier poultry breeds such as the Buff Orpington have been known to lay triple-yolk eggs occasionally. > **[Yolk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_yolk#Double-yolk_eggs)** > > Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (/ˈjoʊk/; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example because they are laid in situations where the food supply is sufficient (such as in the body of the host of a parasitoid) or because the embryo develops in the parent's body, which supplies the food, usually through a placenta. Reproductive systems in ... ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/3 "2014-02-25T00:20:28Z")
Thank you. I don’t know why I didn’t just google it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/4 "2014-02-25T00:56:20Z")
Even with human intervention, it’s pretty hard to get a double yolk egg to be viable. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/5 "2014-02-25T01:44:57Z")
Then there’s whether the egg was fertilized, anyway. Likely not. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/6 "2014-02-25T02:19:18Z")
When our 5th grade class (10-11 years old) did our embryology unit, I got a double yolked fertile egg. My teacher wanted me to discard it and choose another, but I begged and begged to keep it, and acknowledged that I understood they would likely die and promised not to turn into a basket case over it. They both grew and I could see both hearts beating and see two little outlines when we candled them. They grew to fill the egg, and then one day one of the hearts wasn’t beating anymore. It grew a dark spot that spread, and after a few days the other heart stopped beating. That was a few days before everyone else’s eggs hatched. My teacher wouldn’t let me crack open the egg to do a necropsy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/7 "2014-02-25T02:23:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > When our 5th grade class (10-11 years old) did our embryology unit, I got a double yolked fertile egg. My teacher wanted me to discard it and choose another, but I begged and begged to keep it, and acknowledged that I understood they would likely die and promised not to turn into a basket case over it. They both grew and I could see both hearts beating and see two little outlines when we candled them. They grew to fill the egg, and then one day one of the hearts wasn’t beating anymore. It grew a dark spot that spread, and after a few days the other heart stopped beating. That was a few days before everyone else’s eggs hatched. > > My teacher wouldn’t let me crack open the egg to do a necropsy. ☹ A woman after my own heart. 😃 I would have wanted to know what happened too. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egg-q-for-chicken-raisers/682152/8 "2014-02-25T03:13:25Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Even with human intervention, it’s pretty hard to get a double yolk egg to be viable. Judging from my wife’s record, nearly _all_ human intervention with _any_\* chicken eggs isn’t viable. \*Except scrambled, sunny-side up or over-easy.