In comparison to our usual 50-60g eggs this one was a whopping 83g!
We have been told that hens that have just come into lay can lay double-yolk eggs. This happens because 2 yolks are produced at once from the chicken's ovaries and both get incorporated into the developing egg. This is quite rare (1/1000 eggs), but is most common in younger hens. Younger hen's hormonal systems are still settling down and this is one of the possible affects. The hen laying the egg is is the major stimulus involved in triggering the hen's hormonal systems to produce the ovulation hormone (called LH, which is the same hormone that triggers ovulation in humans). The control mechanisms for this are not yet fully understood, but it is believed that when this doesn't happen properly you can end up with another yolk being released before an egg is laid; hence the double-yolk egg. Double-yolk eggs are similar to how non-identical twins happen in humans, but twin chicks is very unlikely to be possible due to the space restriction within the shell. In our case, this is totally impossible as we don't have a rooster so none of our eggs are fertilised.
Here is our double yolker, which Ant enjoyed poached this morning!
As a comparison a standard single-yolk egg from our chucks.
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