Egg farm owners beat odds for four-yolk egg
MONDAY night dinner of ham, egg and chips turned ‘eggs-traordinary’ for one islander who cracked open a quadruple-yolker.
The odds of discovering an egg containing four yolks is said to be eleven billion to one.
The owner of Castel Farm Eggs, Emma Brooks, said in 10 years of owning the business she had never seen a four-yolker before.
‘It’s one of the perks of the jobs that a lot of the larger eggs can’t fit into our cartons for selling at supermarkets so we get to keep them,’ she said.
‘We had family over and were saving the unusually large egg to have but didn’t get around to using it.
‘So I was cooking my husband ham, egg and chips for dinner on Monday and thought we’d use it.
‘When I cracked it and told him it had four yolks inside he jumped up from the table and couldn’t believe it.
‘We have had double yolks, triple yolks and even an egg inside another egg before, but never have we had an egg with four yolks.
‘Straightaway my husband was on Google seeing how rare it is.’
The probability of finding a multi-yolk egg is estimated by the British Egg Information Service at 1 in 1,000.
Even a double yolk egg is considered uncommon. But to find an egg that contains four yolks is a very rare phenomenon.
Britain produces an estimated 10 billion chicken eggs annually, meaning Mrs Brooks’ find is probably the only one found in the country this year.
The last time a quadruple-yolker made the news was in 2015 when Jan Long, from Bromsberrow Heath, Gloucester paid £1.45 for a pack of half a dozen that included the rare egg.
Multiple yolk eggs are often produced by younger animals, which is where Mrs Brooks believes the egg came from.
‘We have some new young chickens in, and it’s often the younger or older ones that create the larger eggs,’ she said. ‘Unfortunately we can’t say exactly which one laid it, to thank her.’
Castel Farm Eggs have 16,000 free range hens that lay around 14,000 eggs a day.
They distribute them across the island to different food retailers.
Although she couldn’t guarantee it, Mrs Brooks said Forest Stores may be the best location to try and pick up at least a double-yolker as their cartons are big enough to take some of the larger eggs.
After her bit of incredible luck, Mrs Brooks said she would buy a lottery ticket this week.
