Buff Orpington eggs

[justlooking]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/25/ee86c041abfd71cff230c922bfed511a.jpg
From left to right. Rhode island red. Buff Orpington. Store bought

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/25/516e9c9ded3984f3cfff18b1275ad1d4.jpg
Buff egg held in my hand

I miss those chickens

[hawgrider]

Love it. Those things are darn near the size of goose eggs LOL




Even my Isa's lay some crazy bigger than Jumbo size eggs as they wont fit in a jumbo egg carton. How the heck does that big of an eggs come out of a little Isa LOL

[justlooking]

Most were double yolks

[hawgrider]

Most were double yolksI haven't had a double yet. My daughter gets them from her buff's


So we may ask ourselves why do double yolks happen?


Roughly one in every thousand eggs (about .1%) is double-yolked. Since commercially-sold eggs in the United States are sold by weight and also candled prior to packaging, any double-yolkers are discarded (although in the UK they are not) and you could go an entire lifetime eating store bought eggs and never encounter one. But start raising your own backyard flock and chances are you'll collect your share. But in nearly five years of raising backyard chickens, and collecting hundreds upon hundreds of eggs, we've only seen a handful of double-yolkers.



So what causes them?

A double-yolked egg occurs when two egg yolks are released into a hen's oviduct too close together and end up encased within the same shell. Generally about an hour after an egg is laid, the next yolk is released, but due to hormonal change/imbalance, an overstimulated ovary sometimes misfires and releases the yolk too early. The shell forms around both yolks and results in a single egg.



It's far more common to find double-yolked eggs from new layers or those hens on the tail end of their laying life. It can be genetic, and therefore hereditary, and is more common in the hybrids and heavier breeds. In Hong Kong and India, chickens are actually bred to lay double-yolked eggs that are highly sought after by customers.

Double-yolked eggs generally won't hatch if incubated, and if they do, both chicks usually don't survive, although it's possible. Hens who lay large or double-yolked eggs are more prone to becoming egg bound or suffering vent prolapse, both potentially fatal afflictions.

http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2013/09/double-yolkers-what-causes-double-yolk.html

[Baglady]

Sweet! Our neighbor's hens have been supplying us very well. Rhodies. For $2 a dozen, saves us the feed and hassle of raising our own again.
Last chickens we had, our dogs killed.

[Montana Rancher]

I feel your pain, although local dogs get a few of my chickens every year, where I live foxes, skunks, raccoons, and cyotes get their fair share. I like to let them roam as it cuts down on the feed costs, but come fall I lock them buggers up very tight. Which makes not a lot of difference as I lose about 60% of them from the diggers in the winter.

IMO when SHTF I will feed a person full time to just watch the chicken coop... money well spent.

[shootbrownelk]

Looks like just a couple would fill an average size frying pan. I'm jealous justlooking.