Twin yolks | Imamother

Buddy

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 2:26 pm

How often do u come across twin yolks? I just finished a dozen of eggs, 4 of them had twin yolks Exclamation

I'm so curious... does anyone have any idea why that would happen scientifically? Were they all from the same chicken?

mali ↓

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 2:31 pm

You can usually see by the shape of the egg when it has twin yolks.

A woman who used to bring me fresh eggs from her farm, told me that the chickens' eggs become smaller with time. So what they do nowadays is - they starve them for a week (maybe even two weeks). By the end of that week the eggs are really small (size 4 in Israel). When they start feeding them again, they lay large eggs, with a large percentage of twin yolks.

Don't ask me how they came up with this (sadistic?) method. Maybe it's a form of birth control that makes the hens ovulate better afterwards, lol.

mimsy7420 ↓

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 2:32 pm

Same as human twins? Because the chicken ovulated twice? Or the "egg" split?

chen ↓

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 3:12 pm

This is much more common if you buy jumbo eggs than if you buy smaller sizes. No, the egg didn't split--that happens after the egg is fertilized, and the eggs we get have not been fertilized (unless there was a mistake, which does happen sometimes). It's caused by a "mistake" in the hen, in which two eggs get wrapped into a single shell instead of each in its own shell. It is entirely possible that some hens are more prone to this sort of goof than others.

batya_d

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 3:18 pm

I'm also fascinated by vegetables and fruits that have "baby fruits" or "twins" growing inside-- I see this a lot with bell peppers. I always exclaim "TWINS!". No wonder my husband thinks I'm weird. LOL

↑ chen ↓

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 3:27 pm

I find that with peppers all the time. Did you know some people have a mummified twin inside them? s/t it is in the form of extra, non-functioning organs, say, four kidneys or two hearts. apparently the fertilized egg began to split, but the two halves didn't separate completely, and the development of one of the halves was arrested at some point. It's another one of those natural "mistakes", like conjoined twins. weird but amazing.

↑ mimsy7420

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 3:30 pm

They are called chimeras! It can happen in humans.

Taken from Wikepedia:

Quote:

In zoology, a chimera is an animal which has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes; if the different cells emerged from the same zygote, it is called a mosaicism. It is either acquired through the infusion of allogeneic hematopoietic cells during transplantation or transfusion or it is inherited. In fraternal twins, chimerism occurs by means of blood-vessel anastomoses. Chimeras were named after the mythological creature Chimera.

Purple Hug Bunny

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 4:42 pm

Buddy wrote:

How often do u come across twin yolks? I just finished a dozen of eggs, 4 of them had twin yolks Exclamation

I'm so curious... does anyone have any idea why that would happen scientifically? Were they all from the same chicken?

I personally havent come across it more then once or twice, but I gotta say you're very lucky.. you paid for one dozen and got almost 1 and a half.

realeez

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 5:58 pm

I had in one carton of a dozen eggs that 6 of them were twins! I wasn't sure if I should use less in the recipe or how that works!

Chani

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 8:06 pm

At the time that I had my twin sons, one of the groceries here was selling cartons of double yolked eggs. My dear neighbor who helped to make the boys' bris seudah, hard boiled them, cut them lengthwise, and used them as garnish! Everybody got a good chuckle out of it.

Tefila

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 8:17 pm

Quote:

How often do u come across twin yolks? I just finished a dozen of eggs, 4 of them had twin yolks

No joking here but when I was pregnant with my first set of twins b/4 I knew I was having..... 2 trays of eggs I bought had 3 twin eggs in them like it was going out of style 8)

Friendly

Mon, Sep 11 2006, 9:29 pm

When I was pregnant I was convinced I was having twins (don't ask me why), and then when I discovered AN ENTIRE CARTON OF EGGS WITH DOUBLE YOLKS, I was sure it was a sign!! but nah, I had one baby boy lol

↑ mali

Tue, Sep 12 2006, 4:35 am

Chani wrote:

very cute!

613

Tue, Sep 12 2006, 10:32 am

I've been having a bunch of twin yolks recently (past few weeks).
I buy large size eggs.

BrachaVHatzlocha

Tue, Sep 12 2006, 8:36 pm

lol - I was thinking "should I start a topic about this on imamother" - because I got one the other day, too Smile

But it really happens rarely.
Just like twins can run in the family, I would assume if you get a carton with several, perhaps they're from the same chicken??
then again, do chickens lay more than 1 egg at a time? probably not...

↑ chen

Wed, Sep 13 2006, 9:04 am

chickens lay several eggs at a time, as do most birds. It's called a "clutch" of eggs, like a "litter" of kittens. That's why there is an expression that someone hovers over something "like a hen with one chick". It means they are being overprotective, the way one might expect a hen to be if instead of the normal clutch she has only one.

Penguins and some other large birds do lay only one at a time.

ny21

Thu, Sep 21 2006, 11:31 am

I think I had twin yolks once.

off the subgect-

I once read that women who eat yams have twins .