A teen farmer was left amazed when he discovered that one of his chickens laid what could be a contender for the world’s biggest egg.
Craig Evans, a teen chicken farmer in County Wicklow on Ireland’s east coast, met with surprise when he discovered that one of his chickens had laid a huge egg unlike any other he had seen before.
‘I’ve never seen one so big’, explained Craig. The egg is easily more than double the size of an average one and could well be Ireland’s, maybe even the world’s, biggest egg.
Possibly Ireland’s largest egg – an incredible achievement
Craig said about what could possibly be Ireland’s largest egg: “I went out, and I was just picking the eggs as normal, and I pulled that one out. I knew straight away it was the biggest one I had ever seen. I don’t even think I’ve even seen a picture of an egg that big.
“There is a good weight to it, and it doesn’t feel any different to the smaller eggs in terms of density. It’s not deformed in any way. The egg is literally just bigger and heavier.”
Craig’s egg, laid by one of his Rhode Island Red hens, weighed in at an enormous 117g and stood nine cm tall with a circumference of 16cm. To put the size of this into perspective, an average supermarket egg usually weighs between 50-60g.
The world record for the largest hen egg ever laid – belongs to a hen in the USA
The current world record for the largest hen egg ever laid was 454g. This huge egg was laid by a White Leghorn in New Jersey, USA, on 25 February 1956. Explaining what led to his hen laying an egg to rival the world record, Craig labelled it a “freak event”.
He added: “I have friends who also have chickens who have never had anything even remotely close to this size. I don’t know what to do with it, to be honest. I’m holding onto it for the moment.”
Craig is unsure which hen laid the egg as he said, “I have them all housed in an old sheep trailer out in a field by my house. They’re all fed the same, they get the same water, and there is nothing different between them.”
Craig’s plans for the future – expanding the egg-selling business after discovering the world’s biggest egg
Craig said he has big plans for the future as he plans to expand his egg-selling business: “As long as I keep selling my eggs and as long as I keep expanding the honesty boxes, I’ll buy more chickens. Hopefully I’ll have a proper retail producing line for eggs when I’m older.”
