The answer is yes. In fact, if you prefer your eggs to have a double yolk, you can actually buy them all that way.
Eggs with two yolks, also known as “double yolkers,” are a rare phenomenon that occurs in roughly one out of every 1,000 eggs. When it comes to double-yolk eggs, there's good news and there's bad news. Because double yolks are rare, they're the frequent subject of myths and superstitions.
One of the reasons you might not find an egg with more than one yolk is because eggs are graded by weight. Double-yolk eggs typically are heavier and end up being graded jumbo. If you do not buy that egg size, you probably will not see a double-yolk egg.
Double yolks aren't that rare but triple yolks and above are few and far between! Even more rare is an egg with more than 2 yolks. Triple yolkers occur from time to time, and in fact, it's possible to get more yolks in an egg. The most yolks ever found in an egg was 11.
What causes eggs with double yolks? It is true that eggs with two yolks are fairly rare: you might find them in 1 of every 1,000 eggs. These eggs typically come from our younger hens whose bodies are still just learning how to lay.
And as rare as double-yolk eggs are, it's possible to have triple or quadruple-yolk eggs, and the likelihood of each additional yolk becomes exponentially smaller. The Daily Mail says that according to the British Egg Information Service, the chances of getting a triple-yolk egg are 1 in 25 million.
Double yolks are usually produced by young chickens. Since their reproductive systems have not fully matured, they periodically release two yolks instead of one. Double yolks can also come from older chickens nearing the end of their egg producing period.
Odds of quadruple-yolk egg are one in 11 billion
According to the British Egg Information Service, the odds of discovering a quadruple-yolker are one in 11 billion, according to a press release from Dakota Layers.
A one-in-25-million chance
"I managed to find some data from the British Egg Information Service suggesting a double-yolk egg is about one in 1,000 and a triple-yolk egg is about one in 25 million," she said.
The good news is that yes, they are safe to consume. If you ever spot an egg with twin yolks floating in it, never throw them away. However, they have a different white-yolk ratio than the egg with just one yolk! Also, a double-yolk egg means, double the protein, cholesterol and other such nutrients than a regular egg.
Sometimes your double yolkers will have half-size yolks, so two would count as one. But if they are full-size, you'd count them as two separate yolks. For full eggs in a recipe, just go by weight.
Yes. It is a rare occurrence. When two chicks hatch from the same egg, the egg usually has two yolks. Usually, one embryo out competes the other and only one chick survives to hatch.
Ten Yolk Eggs (十黄卵 Jū ki Tamago) are laid by Ten-Feathered Giant Chickens and each egg contains ten yolks. They are an incredibly rare ingredient as Ten-Feathered Giant Chickens only lay them once in their entire life and only under special circumstances.
Couple finds ten yolks in four eggs while making a fry-up... at odds of one in 11billion | Daily Mail Online.
If you have no risk factors, eating four or five egg yolks a week is unlikely to be detrimental, as long as you can eat them without the typical high saturated fat that usually accompanies them, like bacon, sausage or buttered toast.”
Multi-yolk eggs are a byproduct of rapid ovulation in chickens and are most common in younger hens as their reproductive systems aren't yet fully matured, according to the Egg Safety Center. According to Guinness World Records, the most yolks ever found in a single chicken egg is five.
Consuming too many eggs in a day is believed to increase the level of bad cholesterol in the body. It is because of the presence of a high amount of cholesterol in the egg yolks. One egg yolk contains approximately 200 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol and its daily recommended level is not more than 300 mg per day.
If you buy one brand of eggs—especially from the same batch—they may be coming from one farmer. If all those chickens are young or if that farmer abruptly changed the light exposure, then a few double yolks could've plopped out and made their way into the cartons you purchased.
Double yolk eggs typically come from younger pullets (hens) as they begin to lay. Breeds most likely to give you a double yolker include Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds.
The odds of getting just one double-yolked egg is one in 1,000, six in a row is one in a quintillion.
When raising chickens for eggs, expect the unexpected. Though quite rare, it is well-known that occasionally a hen will lay an egg inside of an egg. The cause of this phenomenon is called a counter-peristalsis contraction and occurs while the hen is in the process of forming an egg in her oviduct.
Yet, a balanced calculation results in a more nuanced conclusion, with the most accurate prediction of the likelihood of a six-yolk breakfast from the crack of three eggs being somewhere just short a million to one.
The most yolks ever found in one egg is nine. That's a mighty big omelet. Conversely, there are also yolkless eggs, which are called dwarf or wine eggs. Those are usually the first eggs laid by very young hens.
According to the British Egg Information Service, one in every thousand eggs on average is a double-yolker while the odds of discovering a quadruple-yolker are 11 billion to one.