Local couple eggstatic with their twin chicks
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A local couple had an unexpected surprise when a broody hen hatched two chicks from the one egg.
A double yolk is fairly rare, and research has found that having twin chicks born from the same egg is even rarer. Normally only one embryo survives.
Even more surprising was the fact that the couple thought their cockerel, a German breed, was infertile.
Kevin Milkins, who lives with his wife Dawn near Dunbeath, said: "Since we have had this cockerel we have never had any success breeding chickens – we always assumed he was infertile.
"We had a hen that was broody and my wife said she was going to put some eggs under it."
He felt there would be little point in doing that. However, the hens are a hobby of Mrs Milkins and she decided to give it a go, placing three eggs under the Welsummer hen.
Around three weeks later she was delighted to find two chicks peeking out from under their mum.
Mr Milkins, who owns Birons Ironmongers in Wick, said: "She came running in, saying 'quick, quick, come and see'."
When they lifted the hen up they found she still had two intact eggs underneath her.
"We googled it and found it was fairly rare," he said.
The remaining two eggs were later found to have no chicks in them. "She just had this little miracle pair," Mr Milkins added. "It appears there is one boy and one girl – they have grown on splendidly."
Prior to these two chicks being born in August, the couple had given several batches of eggs to other people to incubate but none were successful.
