Double Yolker Eggs!

brokenwings

but queenie
we all know how rare a double yolker is - i am guessing that certain breeds lay more double yolkers than others - that being battery or deep litter shed rather than true free range probably causes more double yolkers - and that the quality of eggs from a hen who lays regular double yolkers is not as good as a regular single yolk egg -

my dad has been a farmer all his life and we have had free range eggs all our lives - we probably get three double yolkers a week from 25 hens on teh farm

the sheer numbers involved in being able to sell double yolkers by the half dozen boggles my mind
unless something is purposely done to produce them ie certain breeds or whatever


im not syaing its impossible - id just like to know how

Spendless

We bought eggs at Asda earlier this year and a couple of weeks running the boxes had a double yolker.

That was the first time I'd seen one for over 12 years, last time they were served at a b &b in Inverness where I'd gone for my friends wedding. Both me and my friend got a double yolker and landlady said they often had them.

The very first time I saw one was in cookery class when friend cracked egg open, don't remember what dish she was making but I do remember her having to get the teacher over and change some of her quantities of ingrediants due to the double yolk.

Queenie

Twins were deemed 'rare' when the human population was far less than it is today. In the main, twins are hereditary rather than accidental.

Likewise with hens. Being battery farmed doesn't 'cause' more double yolkers per se. It's simply a matter of basic sums.

When you consider just how many hens, how many eggs are being farmed and then you take the ratio of double yolkers, then yes, of course it is possible to produce enough to satisfy a demand *w/out* genetic engineering.

By your own reckoning, one eigth of your Dad's eggs are double yolkers, so you're looking at approx 12% of eggs being DY! Now, take that 12% and times it by the sheer number of battery hens alone (that's not counting those that are organic/free range then clearly if there is a market for them and that ratio is being produced 'freely' ie: w/out intervention, then it is merely a case of selection and not a case of scientific intervention for the sake of it. Well, that's how I feel anyway :laugh:

Ultimately, the battery hens are there for one purpose and one purpose only. That is to produce as many eggs in as short as space of time as poss. Double yolkers are a fact of age/ an inherited disposition. They are *not*, however, the primary cause of hen keeping, merely a by product which is being capitalised upon. Not a primary product per se.

Fairy22

I get my eggs from a local egg shop and all they sell is eggs, we usually get 12 extra large "Whopper" eggs and these are usually double yokers. Aparently the larger the egg the more lightly it will be to be a double yoker.

Spendless

How do the shops know they are going to be double yolkers though . Can the eggs be scanned, or are using hens that they have discovered do lay double yolks

Going slightly OT but on the subject of twins though I agree with what Queenie has said. My great-gran had siblings that were twins and had triplets herself no multiple births happened from then on so I used to torment my little sis who said she wanted only one child that she'd get them,and of course she did:D , wish I'd thought of placing a bet on it though:o

jenniferpa

If you look back in the thread you'll see that eggs can be candled. I believe that big egg producers use some king of electronic candling, but I imagine that checking each egg individually, although time consuming, could yield additional profits. They would only have to check those eggs that were in the extra-large category.

Edinburghlass_2

My local Tesco used to stock double yolk eggs as I bought them every week, around the £1.80 for six I think it tends to depend on the area you live in to as after my Tesco stopped selling them I could still get them in Oban Tesco presumably as they had local suppliers of the double yolk eggs. In Oban they also used to sell eggs in little boxes of 4 especially for the boat and camping people which I've never seen elsewhere

I once spoke to a small shop who also stocked double yolk eggs and they got theirs from a local supplier who knew which of their hens actually laid double yolks which ties in with what I found on the net which is that its young hens who occasionally lay double yolks but some then go on to always lay them

I'll certainly be looking out in Morrisons and Sainsburys now as I miss my double yolkers with soldiers

leonie_2

I have three hens, warrens, the types they have in battery farming. Last summer when they were young birds I was getting perhaps two double yolkers a week.

They still layed through the winter, but the eggs were average single yolkers. Now that the weather is warming up, the eggs have gotten considerably bigger (much bigger than supermarket) but still no double yolkers this summer.

The hens free range.

So this fits with a previous poster who says DY'ers a more common in younger birds. However the eggs are so huge this year that I cant complain either way :-)

lady_fuschia

Is it possible to get triple yolkers? Now THAT would be impressive!

NicolaC

Waitrose always used to sell specific boxes of "Double Yokers" eggs.
A little more expensive I think, but really fab anyway!