An Ottawa-area red shaver hen has laid an egg almost three times the size of a standard medium-sized egg.
The 143 gram egg was laid by a red shaver hen on Laurie and Mike McCannell’s farm in Vars, Ont., on Oct. 2. According to Agriculture Canada standards, medium eggs are classed as 49 to 55 grams. A jumbo egg weighs more than 70 grams, according to standards.
The hen is about four years old.
Normally, Laurie said, hens are kept only until they are about two years old and they tend to lay larger eggs, but less frequently, as they get older.
She said it’s not unusual for her hens to lay eggs too large to fit in a jumbo egg carton, she said.
While the McCannell’s egg is well above the jumbo standards, the world record egg still stands.
According to Guinness World Records, a hen in Lancashire, U.K., laid a five-yolk 340-gram egg in 1896.
