Twin Chickens!

Earlier this week, Rebecca Bower (NeedMoreChickens) a member of BackYardChickens.com successfully incubated and hatched a "double yolker" which resulted in twin chickens! Normally, eggs have only one yolk. Occasionally, a hen will lay an egg with two yolks. These are referred to as "double yolkers". I've never heard of a successful "double yolker" hatching, so this was amazing for me to watch!!

Two chickens hatched from the same egg! WOW!!

She captured it all on video, and has posted the video on YouTube. This video is well over 10 minutes long, so if you are on a slow internet connection, I don't recommend viewing it as the time it will take to download is significant. (Sorry Mom and Dad, that means you too...) *grin*

Here's her video on YouTube:

Congratulations, Rebecca! This is quite amazing!!

For those of you who can't view the video, here is a snapshot of a moment in her video showing the two chicks as she helped them wiggle out of their shared shell.

**Shared here with permission from Rebecca. Thanks Heaps!!**

Comments

[Melissa]

Wow, wow, wow!! Towards the end, I barely blinked. Thanks for sharing such a cool movie with those of us who are less involved in the world of chickens.

[Dee]

Wonderful Video...
The twin baby chicks are
so cute :) TFS

[Simmy]

That is so cool ... and the little chicks are darling. I got nervous, though, every time I saw her chipping away at the egg with the knife!!!! I kept thinking, "get some tweezers instead". ROFL.

Thanks for sharing. Oh, and your sweater video has been shown to eveyone in my house and I am cracking up each time I show it.

[paula]

Thanks Anna! Rebecca! All three of us sat here and watched this awesome video just now... This was so cool to see and know that this is a rare birth! Hope both are doing well!

[Kittie Caracciolo]

Wow! I would have been jittering inside trying to get those two babies out. I hardly brathed as I watched it. Thanks for sharing Rebeccas video, Anna! I love your blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gayle m]

Jut amazing!! Thank you for sharing!! Us city folk never get to see this kind of stuff and I enjoy reading all about your animals!! Before your blog I would have never thought chickens could be so interesting. Pleae keep up the animal post, you are one of my favorite blogs to read. Oh yea and you are a wonderful artist too!!! ;-D

[Beth]

OMGoodness! What a precious miracle! Ive been so busy lately that I havent had time to blog hop so I thought I would just take a quick peak at some of my favs (it is almost 2am here in Alabama)! I am so... happy that I took the time to stop by. Cant wait to share this with my daughters! As for a chilly Peepers- I dont crochet or knit well enough to make a sweater but I can see a Girl Scout service project coming out of this- bwahahahaha!

[Vicki Sullivan]

amazing video - thanks so much for sharing it -

[Janet S]

Wow, that is so cool! How are the twins doing? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Shala]

Ok, I have done a lot of weird animal things in my day, but Ive never done a chicken C-section! This video made my six-year-old son very nervous! Hes a C-section baby himself. Maybe Id better wait a while to show him the video on that. ;)

[Teresa Curtis]

OOPS..here I am posting about Renecca Sower, and it was Bower..I should put my glasses on!

[Teresa Curtis]

That is so exciting! When I grew up, there was a dairy where the family would go buy fresh eggs and milk. My aunt would usually always buy the double yolk eggs...dont know how they got those in flats so often, but they did!

Rebecca Sower is one of my favorites..she had wrote a book years ago, Lifes Little Treasures, that I still get out now and then and it still melts my heart!

Wish I also knew how to crochet so I could warm your poor shivering chicken, but I just always had two right hands when it came to trying to crochet LOL I hope someone will be able to help you out. And I realize that I am replying to two posts in one comment...sorry about that! Love your blog and it has me *almost* wanting to purchase some chickens to raise.

Teresa Curtis

[Barb Hardeman]

Thanks for posting this video. It was the most interesting video Ive ever seen on the hatching of twin peepers! Amazing how they both fit into that egg. Your updates are always so refreshing for a city girl.

[Aimee]

This was great! Ive never seen a single chick hatch, let alone two. I love YouTube for things like this - thanks so much for sharing!!

[Cindy H.]

This was so wonderful to watch! I got nervous when I saw the blood. Hope they will be okay. Rebecca did a great job - she was so gentle with them:) TFS

[denise (peanutbee)]

My 4-year-old and I just sat and watched that. We loved it. Thanks for sharing the video!!

[Cynde]

That is amazing! I too raised chickens and had kaying hens and roosters for years, and have never heard of twins going all the way and making it. Amazing! I use to have double yolks all the time too! I kept some hens I had raised for broilers, and didnt , kept them for layers and they were huge birds! Very Fat....and too cute! They were ones used by one of the main chicken co. that raise birds infact.(Foster Farms)
They always gave me double yolks, always. Infact I use to sell the eggs and everyone wanted their eggs because of the double yolks and sometimes 3 yolks in there!
But I have never heard of twin chicks.....Nice she got in on video! She should send it to Standford University. They do alot of animal studies there. I bet they would like to see it!
Toooo Coool! So would that be Double Double Grade A? LOL....

[Phillis]

Wow! I hope these little ones do well. Im a city girl and know absolutely nothing about chickens. What an education! Please keep us updated on the twins.

[sherri]

holy chickens batman, that is wild. So cool to watch. Just watching a single chick hatch is awesome, this is pretty amazing. I hope you dont have to provide around the clock care for your chicks much longer. You must be wearing out! Sounds like it is working though.

[lindastamps]

Thats so cool! Course as a city girl I find all your chicken stuff interesting. As said by someone above, let us know how they do.

[Rachel]

WOW-this is amazing! I have chickens and I still havent gotten a double yolk! This totally blows my mind...

Anyway, one of your readers submitted your awesome crystal snowflake project to me and Ill be linking to it this weekend. I just love your blog and Im adding you to my reader so I dont miss a thing!

[Laurie in MN]

Like Kathleen, I found myself holding my breath. Not a good thing since I have a cold and have trouble breathing. :O)

The purple gold polish chicken is so pretty. I hope she continues to get well.

[Michelle]

This was fascinating-Id love an update on how the chicks are doing! Please post if you happen to find out-THanks!

[Gabriela]

On the edge of my seat. My little girl and I watched Rebeccas video and I dont think either of us even blinked once! Thank you Anna (and Rebecca) for sharing this once in a lifetime event with us.

[Michele]

Incredible!!!!

[Kathleen]

Oh my ! I felt like I was holding my breath the whole time. Please let us know how they are doing.

[Chris Hauck]

Oh my gosh this is soooo cool! A question from a total city girl....I didnt know baby chicks needed help out of the egg. Was this the case since there were two chicks instead of one? My 5 year old watched the video with me and he really enjoyed it too.
Chris