Triple yolked egg!

[almondjoy1972]

I just had to post this...yesterday I collected an egg that was 3 times the size of what I have been collecting. I didn't really think much about it and then this morning I cracked the egg for breakfast and WOWZER!!! 3 yolks!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I didn't take a pic of the egg before I cracked it, but here is a pic of the surprise that was waiting for me......

 

[richsbabycakes]

Cool! I got a giant egg the other day but I haven't cracked it yet. I'm pretty sure it's only a double yolker though.

 

[sumi]

Wow, well done! This is only the 3rd one I've heard of now.

 

[spikennipper]

I've heard of a double yolker but never a triple yolker! I take it this particular hen had a few days off prior to laying this one?! and they just built up? how and why do they happen?

 

[almondjoy1972]

I had never heard of triple yolkers either! I'm not sure which hen laid the egg as I have 9 laying! I did some research and this is one of the articles I found:
Double-yolk eggs

Double-yolk eggs occur when ovulation occurs too rapidly, or when one yolk becomes joined with another yolk. These eggs may be the result of a young hen's reproductive cycle not yet being synchronized.[6] Some hybrid breeds of hens also produce double-yolk eggs by default. Such eggs are produced in India. Eastern states known for that are West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
Some hens will rarely lay double-yolked eggs as the result of unsynchronized production cycles. Although heredity causes some hens to have a higher propensity to lay double-yolked eggs, these occur more frequently as occasional abnormalities in young hens beginning to lay.[citation needed] Usually, a double-yolked egg will be longer and thinner than an ordinary single-yolk egg. Double-yolked eggs usually only lead to observed successful hatchlings under human intervention, as the chickens interfere with each other's hatching process and die.[7]
Rarely, higher-order yolks occur.