Q: I was making muffins and broke an egg that had two yolks. I hadn’t seen that in years. How rare is that, and doesn’t it have some superstition attached?

A: Double-yolk eggs usually are laid by young hens, whose reproductive cycles are still normalizing, although some chicken breeds tend toward them in the same way twins might run in a human family.

They occur naturally about once in 1,000 eggs. Since so many eggs are laid daily, that’s not particularly rare. But you see them less often in supermarket eggs these days because those are inspected by weight and by light, called candling. Double-yolks usually are pulled to be used in egg products. You’re more likely to see them at home in eggs bought directly from a farmer.

Superstitions connected to double-yolk eggs cover a wide range. Some traditions think that they mean someone in the family will get pregnant or have twins, or that they mean prosperity. Other traditions blame them for bad luck and think they predict a death in the family.

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