I love different kinds of pastas in soup - it's a good way to use up tag ends. To avoid the over-cooking question, I cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup when I serve it. I deal with leftovers the same way: hold them separately.
It might just be tradition with no real difference in cooking - egg noodles were what non-Italians might have used? I actually like fideos in chicken soup.
I think this has to do with the fact that egg noodles are often eaten very soft, not al dente like Italian pasta, so the fact that they're left in the boiling liquid doesn't affect the texture in a negative way. Personally, I love farro or orzo in chicken soup, or even little half rigatoni. No worries about the texture -- it's soup!
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