# Egg Laying



## Pancakes (Aug 1, 2013)

My four goldlines have started laying, this morning I camped out to see who laid, and it was as suspected, Talula.

Had it boiled with toasty soldiers, I'm now getting one egg per day, hopefully soon it will increase!!


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

Congrats on the egg .


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

I love the name!!! Talula! Cool runnings....

What are toasted soldiers?


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## Pancakes (Aug 1, 2013)

Soldiers are toasted and buttered bread cut into strips, ready to dunk into that tasty soft yolk, very British.

Had another egg laid an hour after by Betty too.


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## chickadee3 (Apr 14, 2013)

Pancakes said:


> Soldiers are toasted and buttered bread cut into strips, ready to dunk into that tasty soft yolk, very British.
> 
> Had another egg laid an hour after by Betty too.


Ooh yum! My boys love boiled egg and soldiers (but bread not toast!!) my girls like to oblige with occasional double yolks, too!! Double yum!! X


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## Pancakes (Aug 1, 2013)

Double yolkers.......BOOM


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## mellie (Sep 15, 2012)

My Black Sex Links just started laying eggs. This is her 3rd one... It looks like a potato - misshaped and giant... All I can say is OUCH... Anybody else have eggs that look like potato?


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## mellie (Sep 15, 2012)

mellie said:


> My Black Sex Links just started laying eggs. This is her 3rd one... It looks like a potato - misshaped and giant... All I can say is OUCH... Anybody else have eggs that look like potato?


I wish I had weighed this egg before cracking it. Has anybody ever seen 3 yolks in one shell???? Seriously 3 egg yolks.


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## mellie (Sep 15, 2012)

Bee said:


> I love the name!!! Talula! Cool runnings....
> 
> What are toasted soldiers?


Bee, have you ever seen 3 yolks in one egg? I am worried about my black sex link. The first egg was double yolk and the 3rd GIANT egg was 3 yolks. I am praying this won't continue.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Yep...saw one with 4 yolks in it once. Poor thing was just a small hen...one of our favorites but she was a doozy! Always laid large eggs, but never one like that before. She was bloody from it. 

Check the soy levels in your feed, your protein percentages and your feed amounts. Something is causing her to ovulate abnormally, which in a young bird is not unusual but it's usually not over-ovulation at that age...usually sporadic laying at first. Soy proteins can increase the natural hormone levels that a bird produces causing her ovulation to be abnormal. Someone else on here was reporting the same thing...double yolkers in young layers of several breeds she had in the flock. 

I've kept birds for quite a long time and can tell you that double yolkers are just not a common occurrence...I might get several from a single bird, due to old age or a particular breed, maybe once or twice in 20-30 years. That's a lot of chickens over many years and I can honestly say that I've found multiple yolk eggs to be a pretty rare thing statistically speaking. 

But..lately, I'm hearing of more and more people reporting double yolks in their flocks..there has to be a catalyst for that and the only thing they have in common is the feeds/grains being packaged or mixed for their birds. As more feed is being produced that is called "vegetarian" and also having protein percentages of 20-24%...I'm thinking that level of soy proteins are causing increasing incidents of abnormal ovulation. Could even be the GMO grains..not sure. 

Of course, that's just spit ballin' and may be a slim guess, at best, but there is definitely a reason behind it that isn't a good thing. A healthy chicken will ovulate normally, like a healthy woman will ovulate normally...so whatever is happening can't be a good thing.


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## shaneandkristy (Sep 2, 2013)

It was wrinkly and had spirals that went top to bottom.. It was huge


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Here's a neat article about egg abnormalities....some of which I'm not sure I agree but it sure is interesting!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems


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## mellie (Sep 15, 2012)

Bee said:


> Here's a neat article about egg abnormalities....some of which I'm not sure I agree but it sure is interesting!
> 
> http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems


That is a great article Bee, thank you for sharing it. I don't know what or if she laid yesterday.. I was gone all day, and my daughter put them to bed. I'll ask her when she gets up. I'll start having to "peddle" my eggs if everybody starts laying.....

Again, Thank You very much!


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## doodlehike (Jul 27, 2013)

I have a young flick that has just started laying about a month ago. I have had 3-4 double yolkers from two of my pullets and one from another. The other day I used 3 eggs to cook a 6 egg omelet. I'll look into the soy content of their feed. I had no idea double yolks weren't common in young birds.


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## doodlehike (Jul 27, 2013)

Bee said:


> Here's a neat article about egg abnormalities....some of which I'm not sure I agree but it sure is interesting!
> 
> http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/common-egg-quality-problems


Thank you for the article! It certainly answered some questions and will keep me from getting to worried about eggs if they are different.

How about 9 yolks in one egg?!?! I would have loved to see that!


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

doodlehike said:


> I have a young flick that has just started laying about a month ago. I have had 3-4 double yolkers from two of my pullets and one from another. The other day I used 3 eggs to cook a 6 egg omelet. I'll look into the soy content of their feed. I had no idea double yolks weren't common in young birds.


I've only ever seen double yolks in older birds and especially in those at the end of their laying life. I've never seen a double yolk out of a young bird, though that article I posted said they do lay them...I've just never seen it in all my years. We used to keep RIR and leghorns, so if any bird is going to double yolk at a young age, it's those kind of production breeds.


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## doodlehike (Jul 27, 2013)

My double yolkers were an Ameraucana, a Red Star and a Leghorn. The Ameraucana lays some giant double eggs.


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## kjohnstone (Mar 30, 2013)

For the first month my amber-whites were laying, I had a bunch of double yolkers, but that seems to have settled down. Neither of my ameraucanas have done double-yolkers, same for the australorps. (The amber-whites lay a darker brown egg than the australorps)....

Come to think of it, the double-yolk production may have ended since 1) going free range, and 2) going to fermented feed.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Could be a factor...better food and better overall health does seem to affect reproductive health.


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