Farmers crack open a giant egg, find another fully-formed one inside

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Farmers in Queensland, Australia got quite the surprise after one of their hens laid an egg the size of a hand.

Thinking it was probably a triple-yolker (since double-yolkers are quite common), they broke it open but were shocked to find another fully-formed normal-sized egg inside.

The egg was produced by a free-range chicken (that is, kept in natural conditions, not caged) at Stockman’s Eggs in Kairi in far north Queensland.

Weighing 176 grams, the egg was three times the size and weight of a normal egg.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, when asked how it was possible for a hen to lay such a whopper, Mr Stockman said he had asked quite a few experts and it was most likely “just a freak of nature”.

“The experts say (the hen) must have been really well looked after and well fed,” Mr Stockman said.

All the hens on Stockman's farm are fed on corn which produces a golden yolk. “When I opened it I thought we might get two, three or four yolks inside because you quite often get double yolkers, but we were really surprised to find another whole egg inside the big egg,” he told Herald Sun.

Stockman, who runs a third-generation farm with his father produces up to 45,000 eggs a day, said they had now thrown away both the eggs.