If a chicken lays a double yolked egg and its fertilized what position do the baby chicks have to use to stay alive?

Answer 1

The small end of the egg should be placed down at all times. When advised to turn eggs during artificial incubation, the turn needs only to be 90 degrees from one side to the other. The egg should not be turned from end to end. Mother hens naturally just roll the egg from one side of the nest to the other, they do not stand the eggs upright.

Now about the double yolked egg. It is unlikely that the egg will incubate to hatch. Most novice breeders get all excited when they candle a double yolked egg thinking they will get twin chicks but they are always disappointed. It happens very seldom. The two yolk eggs, while they will usually develop to about day 16 of the 21 day cycle will often end in the death of both developing chicks. This is because the egg shell is not well suited to sustaining twin embryos. The reason you keep the large end of the egg up for 21 days is so air will collect in the top of the shell as moisture evaporates. This air is used to sustain the chick just prior to "peeping" or getting out of the shell. Two viable chicks in the same shell use double the amount of air and will often suffocate prior to opening that all important first hole and allowing air into the shell while they continue to break out. Movement inside the shell is also important in those last few days and two chicks occupying the space restricts that much more than a normal single chick in an egg.