# Lots of double egg yolks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 16, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750 "2025-12-16T13:54:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/1 "2025-12-16T13:54:29Z")
I have been seeing lots of double (and triple) yolks in my eggs lately including two cartons from two different stores that were all double and triple yolks. Anyone else notice this? Is this a coincidence or did something change in egg processing? ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/2 "2025-12-16T13:56:59Z")
This summer I think I saw the first double in my adult life. They used to be pretty thorough at sorting them out (in France), but maybe that’s slipping. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/3 "2025-12-16T14:17:26Z")
We had a carton back in late summer that was all double yolks. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/4 "2025-12-16T14:40:32Z")
I eat 21 eggs a week and haven’t seen a multi-yolk egg in 20 years. I usually buy my eggs at Costco. Where do you live Quimby? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/5 "2025-12-16T14:42:00Z")
Farmers Market here in Upstate NY sells eggs $5 a dozen, some marked ‘double yolkers’. The egg guy says they’re from his hens who are overachievers. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/6 "2025-12-16T14:46:31Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > They used to be pretty thorough at sorting them out (in France) > [@salinqmind1](#): > > Farmers Market here in Upstate NY sells eggs $5 a dozen, some marked ‘double yolkers’. How do they know they are double yolks before cracking them? Is it normal to candle all eggs before taking them to market? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/7 "2025-12-16T14:48:07Z")
Are you buying jumbos? If not, that could be part of it. Jumbos for me have a fairly good chance of containing at least one double yolker. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/8 "2025-12-16T14:49:49Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > How do they know they are double yolks before cracking them? Is it normal to candle all eggs before taking them to market? I was just going to ask that myself! They obviously can’t see through the egg shell. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/9 "2025-12-16T14:58:49Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Is it normal to candle all eggs before taking them to market? They have machines which can do that quite quickly and easily. They range in price from under $10 to tens of thousands. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/10 "2025-12-16T15:05:02Z")
These are the very large eggs. The farmers hens eggs are sorted into brown or white, regular or Jumbo size. They aren’t from a huge factory farm, they are from a small local farm. And eggs are easily ‘candled’ with a bright light so you can see what’s inside. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/11 "2025-12-16T16:08:53Z")
I am in North Jersey and the cartons were Jumbo sized eggs. Until this experience I would say I saw multiple yolks once or twice a year maybe? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/12 "2025-12-16T16:14:54Z")
My mother used to work for an egg farm. Double yolks come from young, new layers. Confirmed by [here](https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Why-do-some-eggs-have-double-yolk). [https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Why-do-some-eggs-have-double-yolk](https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/Why-do-some-eggs-have-double-yolk) > 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. Occasionally a hen will produce double-yolked eggs throughout her egg-laying career.” ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/13 "2025-12-16T17:27:24Z")
No, I never buy jumbo or even extra-large eggs. I only buy large eggs, and I guess that makes all the difference. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/14 "2025-12-16T17:35:30Z")
I saw my first one in my life (I’m 77) last week. I use eggs only in cooking, so buy very few. These were large eggs from Safeway. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/15 "2025-12-16T19:26:21Z")
In my experience double yolks are quite common in Extra Large and Jumbo eggs, one or two per dozen. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/16 "2025-12-16T19:47:45Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Double yolks come from young, new layers. That might explain an upsurge in such eggs. They had to cull the flocks not too long ago, so pretty much all the birds currently laying eggs would be on the younger side. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/17 "2025-12-17T20:18:57Z")
I buy my eggs (large) five dozen at a time (by which I mean, I eat a lot of eggs), and can’t even recall the last time I saw a double-yolked egg. More than two decades, at least. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/18 "2025-12-17T20:23:22Z")
We mostly get eggs from local farmers and it’s much more common with those eggs than with eggs from the grocery. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/19 "2025-12-17T20:26:13Z")
Are they from downwind of Chernobyl? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750/20 "2025-12-17T20:46:44Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > I saw my first one in my life (I’m 77) last week. I was starting to think I was the only one. I don’t eat eggs like I used to but can’t remember ever cracking open a double yolk, either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lots-of-double-egg-yolks/1025750.md?page=2)