Jen Clarke of West London opened four eggs in a row that were all double-yolked. The odds of such a thing happening must be astronomical -or are they?
Many factors can affect these odds, like the possibility that a certain chicken or flock laying several eggs that ended up in one carton, or the sorting of eggs by size. There are other factors as well, explained in this BBC article. Link -via Metafilter
According to the British Egg Information Service, one in every thousand eggs on average is a double-yolker. They're not sure how they've come to this figure but you would like to think that the British Egg Information Service was able to supply useful information about British Eggs, so let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
So, if the probability of finding an egg with two yolks is 1/1000 - then to find the likelihood of discovering four in a row you simply multiply the probabilities together four times. One thousand to the power of four brings us to the grand total of one trillion - that's the new-school US-style trillion with 12 zeroes.
If true that would mean the event that occurred in Jen's kitchen was a trillion-to-one event. But is it true? No is the short answer.
Many factors can affect these odds, like the possibility that a certain chicken or flock laying several eggs that ended up in one carton, or the sorting of eggs by size. There are other factors as well, explained in this BBC article. Link -via Metafilter
Large farms have automated processing lines for eggs. Clean and pack them for shipment. They sort by size too, then sell packs of a dozen for different prices based on size. At least this is true for grocery stores in both LA and San Francisco.
If you want to get a buncha double-yolk eggs, go to the grocery store and buy the largest size eggs. You'll get lots.
Egg box containing 29 double-yolk eggs
Some places still "candle" their eggs, meaning that they hold the eggs up in front of a dim light (candles back in the olden days) which clearly shows a double yolk.
So my guess is that the workers did it on purpose.
Seems to me like there is some sort of funky artificial fertilization going on here rather than some random twins.
By you assumptions this chicken I more rare than there are grains in the universe......
....double yolks are only uncommon for city slickers and people who don't know squat about where their food comes from. This really is one of the most IGNORANT posts I have EVER read on this site. Really stupid.
@Sharyn, I have had double yolkers from free range farms in Australia before. By the way, I hate to be a grammar Nazi, but it's "luck of the draw".