A few weeks ago, my wife sent me to the store to buy her eggs. Of course, I bought the wrong ones! The next logical thing to happen was for her to find a double yolked egg. She started to freak out and sent me to do some research. Of course, I said it was no big deal, but I decided to go find out for myself.
So what is the true meaning of a double yolked egg? In short, I found out that may people are superstitious about two yolks, but really it is a natural process of rapid ovulation in a young hen. There isn’t anything that is going to harm you with eating two yolks, so rest easy!
Why the two yolks?
Let’s start off with a little science lesson. Eggs are the process of ovulation by a hen. When the hen is laying eggs, two yolks end up hanging out together. Think of it like twins in a human birth. Many times this happens because two eggs are fertilized at the same time.
In hens that are producing eggs, two eggs are released at about the same time and end up together in a single shell. A typical egg release pattern would be spread out, but an abnormal process can take place during hormonal changes. This is more common in young hens that are just getting started laying eggs. I guess that is part of their practice.
Are Double Yolks Common?
Well, it would take you buying 83 dozen eggs to come across a double. Let’s say you buy eggs once a week, you should find a double yolk about every year and a half. The actual odds are about 1 out of every 1000 eggs.
More than a Double Yolk
So another question that I had was if you can get two yolks, can you also find more? The answer is yes. Supposedly there was once an egg found with 9 yolks. That’s like a buy an egg, get a free dozen sale!
Double Egg Yolk Superstition
If you like to get into this sort of thing, it is thought that finding a double yolk means that you are going to be pregnant with twins. There is also a theory that someone in your family is about to die. So there you have it, either someone new or you are losing someone. The real truth is that you are probably going to just end up googling why you found two yolks!
