A double yolk occurs when a hen's body releases more than one egg during her daily ovulation cycle. And, just like humans, it's possible for two — or more — eggs to make their way from the ovary and through the reproductive tract. The overall odds of a hen laying a double yolk are one in 1,000.
'Double-yolkers' as we like to call them, are not a totally rare event, and are said to occur in approximately 1 in every 1000 eggs.
On that basis we can say that while chance of finding one double-yolk egg may be 1/1000, the chance of finding a second is considerably higher - more like 1/100.
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.
So, ignoring all other factors, the chances of getting four double-yolk eggs in a row from a single carton should be (1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x (1/1,000) x (1/1,000), or one in every trillion.
Roughly one in one thousand eggs are double-yolked. And what's better? Double-yolked eggs are perfectly safe to consume.
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.
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.
Why Do Double Yolks Happen? A double yolk occurs when a hen's body releases more than one egg during her daily ovulation cycle. And, just like humans, it's possible for two — or more — eggs to make their way from the ovary and through the reproductive tract.
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.
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.
The odds of finding one of the these scarce eggs is said to be 1,000 to one, so theoretically the odds on finding ten in a row is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 - or a quintillion - to one.
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.
The odds of getting just one double-yolked egg is one in 1,000, six in a row is one in a quintillion.
It turns out that doubles turn out more frequently among young hens than older birds, and that flocks of hens tend to be the same age. The chance of a young hen laying a double-yolked egg are roughly 1:30. So, three in a row would calculate the odds at one in 27,000.
A double-yolked or triple-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. For a more in-depth and scientific answer click here.
There are two different kinds of chickens that most commonly lay an egg with two yolks. On occasion, they're laid by heavy-breed hens, for which the habit of making double-yolk eggs is an inherited trait. However, heavy-breed hens are not typically used for commercial egg laying because they don't lay many eggs.
According to the American Egg Board, "Double-yolked eggs are often produced by young hens whose egg production cycles are not yet completely synchronized. They're often produced too, by hens that are old enough to produce extra large-sized eggs. Genetics are also a factor.
Double yolks are fairly rare – you might find them in 1 of every 1,000 eggs. These eggs typically come from our younger hens who are still just learning how to lay eggs. Double-yolked eggs also tend to be very large. They are usually graded 'Super Jumbo.
"They grade for size of the egg and for shell strength," Smith says. "They want uniformity." And, by definition, a double-yolker is not uniform. As a result, these jumbos — whether they foretell good luck or a scrambled future of misfortune — nowadays rarely make it to the grocery store.
That figure was based on estimates the journalist had derived from the British Egg Information Service (BEIS – bit.ly/29y0Wr0), which gave the chances of a double-yolk egg as 1 in 1000, and the chances of a triple-yolker as 1 in 25 million.
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.
According to the British Egg Information Service, the odds of discovering a quadruple-yolker are a staggering one in 11 billion, according to a news release from Dakota Layers.
Though the egg-inside-of-an-egg phenomenon is rare, it does happen. It's due to a counter-peristalsis contraction, which happens when an egg is pushed back up into the chicken's reproductive system and becomes embedded in another newly forming egg.
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.”