Egg Trivia and Folklore
Reading Time: 4 minutes
by Erin Snyder
From old wives’ tales to egg facts, learn egg trivia, egg nutrition facts, culinary facts, and folklore.
What came first, the chicken or the egg?” is a popular question among backyard flock owners and egg enthusiasts. While no one knows the answer to this question, there are even more fascinating facts about eggs, including some egg folklore. So, if you find the discussion about the chicken or the egg coming first interesting, here are some more fascinating facts and folklore about eggs.
Fun Folklore
Old wives’ tales suggest that the shape of an egg can determine the sex of the chick inside. A thin, pointed egg is believed to contain a rooster, while rounded eggs should hatch a hen. However, there is no scientific proof of this tale.
In the 14th century, fairy eggs (tiny eggs laid by hens that don’t contain a yolk) were believed to have been laid by a rooster. If incubated under the right circumstances, these eggs would hatch a dragon. Some cultures even burned the rooster reported to have laid the egg to warn other roosters not to lay.
Seventeenth-century French brides would break an egg on their wedding day to ensure pregnancy.
In Germany, farmers used to smear eggs on their plows in the spring to warrant fertility during spring planting.
Egyptians historically believed the sun to be an egg laid by a goose in the heavens.
According to folklore, if you stand a raw egg on end during the spring and fall equinoxes, it will stay standing and not topple over.
Some cultures believe double-yolked eggs will bring good luck and new beginnings, or twins will soon be born.
Culinary Egg Facts
Did you know that many people with egg allergies and sensitivities have a reaction to the albumen (egg white) and not the yolk?
- Egg yolks are a naturally good source of vitamin D.
- Egg whites contain 40 different proteins.
- Eggs have one of the highest quality proteins you can buy, containing all essential amino acids.
- You absorb only half of an egg’s protein if you consume it raw.
- An egg’s pores will absorb odors from its surroundings, affecting its flavor.
- Americans eat an average of 286 eggs every year.
- Japan leads the world in terms of the number of eggs consumed per individual. On average, a person eats 320 eggs annually.
- U.S. eggs would be illegal to sell in a British supermarket because they’re washed. British eggs are illegal to sell in a U.S. supermarket because they’re unwashed.
- Americans typically refrigerate their eggs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires all American eggs to be washed and often sanitized at processing plants to avoid salmonella contamination, since the eggs pass through the same passageway as feces are excreted. The egg washing removes the bloom from the eggshell and washes away the natural barrier that protects the egg from absorbing harmful bacteria such as salmonella.
- Only one in 20,000 eggs might contain salmonella. There is a five-one thousandth percent chance that you might eat an egg contaminated with salmonella. An average consumer might eat a contaminated egg every 84 years.
Egg Nutrition Facts
The nutritional facts might surprise you when comparing free range eggs to cage eggs. Free-range eggs contain:
- A quarter less saturated fat.
- Twice the amount of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Three times more vitamin E.
- Two-thirds more vitamin A.
- A quarter less cholesterol.
- Seven times more beta-carotene.
Even though there’s a substantial nutritional difference between free-range and caged eggs, only 5 percent of Americans consume their own or locally-raised free-range eggs.
Eggs are often called “nature’s miracle” as they exist in all cultures’ cuisines and have substantial health benefits.
Fun Egg Facts:
- The top 10 egg-raising states are Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Georgia, and Minnesota.
- Chickens don’t produce one egg at a time. Laying hens often have several eggs in various stages of development.
- June 3 is National Egg Day.
- A sitting hen turns each egg approximately 50 times daily to keep the yolk and chick from sticking to the shell.
- Each year in the United States, an average of 240 million laying hens produce 66 billion eggs.
- White egg layers are the most common layers kept on factory farms, as they have a higher egg-to-feed ratio than brown egg layers.
- The number one egg producer on factory farms is the White Leghorn.
- The heaviest chicken egg on record weighed one pound and had a double yolk and shell.
- A Black Australorp hen and a Khaki Campbell duck hold the record for the most eggs laid in one calendar year: 364 eggs in 365 days.
These days, eggs aren’t just used in the culinary world; they’re also used by artists. After an egg has been blown out, artists paint or decorate it with quilling, creating a stunning, one-of-a-kind piece of art.
The most fascinating, thrilling, and rewarding aspect of eggs is that if a hen is exposed to a rooster, one egg contains everything needed to start the next generation of chickens!
Eggs are so amazing, and yet they couldn’t exist without the chickens who lay them. When you pick up that freshly laid egg, say “thank you” to the extraordinary hens that laid you your own “Nature’s Miracle.”
Resources
https://www.freshways.co.uk/18- egg-citing-facts-about-eggs/
https://www.eggfarmers. ca/2017/04/eggs-in-mythologyfolklore- and-belief/
Originally published in the December 2024/January 2025 issue of Backyard Poultry and regularly vetted for accuracy.
