Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations My first Triple

I had never seen this before. Nattha was making me breakfast this morning and this showed up...




Anybody else seen one before??

Did you feel a certain libido boost, or have an otherwise unworldly day?

The one on top must have been from Texas. Hard to tell on the other one; probably anywhere above the Mason Dixon line.

I've seen double yolked eggs from my grandmother's farm raised chickens years ago, but never a triple...

I would have to agree with this. Those of us above the Mason Dixon line, including our chickens, only need one attempt to get things right..

Seriously though, I've seen lots of doubles, but a triple? Wow!

What a disappointment!
Here I was, opening this thread, expecting to see three fish on a 3-treble stick bait.

Guess I need to ask the moderators to add "breakfast" to the already banned topics of politics, religion, and winter feeding.

From the web....

So this raises the question; why do chickens lay eggs with more than one yolk?

Let’s start with a quick reminder of how an egg is formed. You can find an extensive explanation on the formation of the egg in Vol 2: Issue: 2 – Wednesday 28th January 2009.

The hen’s reproductive system is made up of an ovary and an oviduct. A mature ovary, which looks like a cluster of very small grapes, may contain up to 4,000 small ova. Each of these ova can develop into a yolk.

About 7-9 days before ovulation, hormones cause an ovum to develop in sequence to a yolk.

Each yolk is attached to the ovary by a thin membrane with a fine network of blood vessels.

Generally, a yolk is released every 23 hours in a hen that is a very good layer. Less frequent layers do not ovulate as often.

The ovum travels through the hen’s reproductive system in sequence and a complete egg is formed. The final stop is the “Shell Gland” where the hard outer shell is added. The egg will spend 20 hours in the shell gland, the majority of it’s time in the reproductive system. Finally the “bloom”, or protective coating, is added as the egg is laid.

A double yolked egg is formed when two yolks are released either at the same time or in rapid succession.

Another cause is when the first yolk remains too long in the oviduct and is joined by a second yolk.

In either case, both yolks are encased within the same shell.

This unsynchronized release of yolks most often occurs in pullets, just coming onto lay.

Sometimes it takes a little while to get the hang of things.

In a particular hen, you may also find double yolked eggs to be a regular occurrence even as they become more mature. Some hens and some breeds are more likely to be genetically predispositioned to lay double yolked eggs.

The likelihood that a mature hen will lay a double yolked egg without this genetic predisposition is about 1 in 1000.

Sandy, I can’t even find a statistic for triple yolked eggs, it must be awfully rare!

There are a few characteristics that might indicate you have an egg with more than one yolk.

First, the eggs with double yolks are larger than single yolk eggs.

Secondly, multi-yolked eggs are usually longer and thinner than a regular egg.



If you get a large egg and are wondering which hen laid it, just look for the one that is walking funny.



Okay, I’m just kidding.

Realistically speaking though, it can’t be comfortable to lay such a big egg. It is probably comparable to a woman giving birth to a 11 pound baby.

Large eggs will often have some blood on the outside of the shell, indicating either scraping of the lining or possibly a small tear in the vent area. It is not a concern unless it is a regular occurrence. In that case, you’d want to have your hen checked by a veterinarian.

Some of you might be wondering if you can successfully hatch an egg with more than one yolk. The answer is, not likely. Even though multi-yolked eggs are larger, there is not enough room to support the lives of two chicks.

It has been done but success is the exception.

Since we’ve address multi-yolked eggs, did you know that you can get a yolkless egg?

It’s true but again it’s rare. This happens when a piece of tissue is sloughed off the ovary and travels through the oviduct as a yolk would. I’ve never personally experienced this but I can only imagine the surprise when the egg is cracked and is yolkless.

Don't forget climate change, green energy, and anything to do with personal property rights. And since so many topics are verboten, we need appropriate subject matter to fill in the expanding slack times. I propose additional discourse regarding the many benefits of HBG.

Yolklessness? Sounds pretty boring.

have you ever heard of an egg having another egg inside of it? it happens. my grandparents had a hen that did it several times. this was back before the good ole internet to do research with. took the egg to auburn university and waited most of the day to see a specialist. thought they had the only one in the world. come to find out it does happen from time to time. she did get her picture on the front page of the local newspaper cracking the egg though!

Actually, I did feel something odd but then....I burped and the sensation went away!

Sorry, like GSF, there are no benefits...

I had a laying hen that always laid double yolk eggs with a triple about once a week...

FREAK!!!!

I would say this thread exposes that there are just too many Yokels contributing!! Besides I bet Bill photo shopped the pic ta get attention.

Sell it on e-bay!!! People will buy anything. Seriously,our family had a egg farm in south Texas when I was growing up. Seen lot's of doubles in my day but never a triple!!

Bob,

If I had those skills, I would have dressed each yolk in a pink speedo and put your pic on each one!

Trust me, you do NOT want to see a Yolk in a pink speedo.

Those are chicken eggs? I always thought they were made in a factory, you know, like milk and steak. Crazy, you guys sure know a lot about country stuff.

If that's the case, you might want to sit down before we tell you which end of the pig the hot dog comes out of, TJ.

Just a simple Yankee "city" boy I guess.

Bill, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm hijacking your triple yolked chicken egg thread. One of our Ameraucana's just laid an egg with no shell. I wouldn't touch it. It seems to have evil written all over it.

Creepy! When I was growing up we had a hen that would throw one of those every once and a while as she got older.

Which one is the good one?

Far and few between when I have eggs.

Dad made some scrambled with onions and green peppers a few days ago. Not bad!

I like mine over easy, or sunny side up. Yeah, in my earlier life I was a breakfast cook at a sit down restaurant. Kinda scary!!

I remember my Dad making eggs. Anything in the fridge was a possible ingredient. Sometimes a great scramble....sometimes not so great!