Harriet the hen lays 'world's largest egg'
At first glance it must have looked more like a rugby ball than an egg.
But Tony Barbouti's eyes were not deceiving him - one of his hens had laid a whopper measuring as astonishing 9.1 inches in diameter.
That easily beats the world's previous best of 8.6 inches.
The extraordinary specimen produced by six-month-old Harriet was also 4.5 inches long, a full halfinch longer than the next best example.
What a cracker!: This giant egg was laid by a hen in Eastwood, Essex and weighed 163 grams
Hens' eggs typically have a circumference of 5.5 inches and are 2.3 inches long.
Mr Barbouti, a 64-year-old taxi driver from Eastwood, near Southend in Essex, said yesterday: 'My hens have laid big eggs before but when I saw this one I was gobsmacked.
'Harriet is only a young hen, she's about six months old, and has only just started laying eggs.
'She was limping a bit but she was all right. I'm really proud of her. She doesn't seem to have been putting off laying as she's still producing eggs.'
Mr Barbouti, a father of two, has been keeping hens in his garden for 30 years. Harriet is one of 17 at present that are kept in a coop and are fed on mash and vegetable peelings.
Her owner added: 'They are not special hens. I feed them ordinary hen food and they give me a good supply of fresh eggs. But I think we may need bigger egg cups if they keep this up.'
Unfortunately Mr Barbouti's dog, a boxer called Bodie, became a record breaker as well yesterday.
During an unfortunate incident it nudged the egg after it was placed in a box of ordinary eggs for photos, leaving it slightly cracked. It remains pretty much in one piece for now but, on the bright side, should it have to be opened it will provide ample scrambled eggs for both Mr Barbouti and his wife, Jacqui.
Record-breaker: Harriet the hen is responsible for the mammoth egg
Mrs Barbouti said: 'I don't have much to do with the chickens. I just enjoy eating the eggs.
'My husband goes out every morning and feeds them and collects the eggs.
'I couldn't believe it when I saw this egg - it's bigger than a goose egg. My husband is very proud.'
There was one record, however, that Harriet's egg didn't manage to break.
Hers weighed 5.7oz, a tiddler compared to the world record holder which had a double yolk and double shell and was 16oz.
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Eggs-straordinary! Harriet the hen could crack the record | Mail Online
At first glance it must have looked more like a rugby ball than an egg.
But Tony Barbouti's eyes were not deceiving him - one of his hens had laid a whopper measuring as astonishing 9.1 inches in diameter.
That easily beats the world's previous best of 8.6 inches.
The extraordinary specimen produced by six-month-old Harriet was also 4.5 inches long, a full halfinch longer than the next best example.
What a cracker!: This giant egg was laid by a hen in Eastwood, Essex and weighed 163 grams Hens' eggs typically have a circumference of 5.5 inches and are 2.3 inches long.
Mr Barbouti, a 64-year-old taxi driver from Eastwood, near Southend in Essex, said yesterday: 'My hens have laid big eggs before but when I saw this one I was gobsmacked.
'Harriet is only a young hen, she's about six months old, and has only just started laying eggs.
'She was limping a bit but she was all right. I'm really proud of her. She doesn't seem to have been putting off laying as she's still producing eggs.'
Mr Barbouti, a father of two, has been keeping hens in his garden for 30 years. Harriet is one of 17 at present that are kept in a coop and are fed on mash and vegetable peelings.
Her owner added: 'They are not special hens. I feed them ordinary hen food and they give me a good supply of fresh eggs. But I think we may need bigger egg cups if they keep this up.'
Unfortunately Mr Barbouti's dog, a boxer called Bodie, became a record breaker as well yesterday.
During an unfortunate incident it nudged the egg after it was placed in a box of ordinary eggs for photos, leaving it slightly cracked. It remains pretty much in one piece for now but, on the bright side, should it have to be opened it will provide ample scrambled eggs for both Mr Barbouti and his wife, Jacqui.
Record-breaker: Harriet the hen is responsible for the mammoth eggMrs Barbouti said: 'I don't have much to do with the chickens. I just enjoy eating the eggs.
'My husband goes out every morning and feeds them and collects the eggs.
'I couldn't believe it when I saw this egg - it's bigger than a goose egg. My husband is very proud.'
There was one record, however, that Harriet's egg didn't manage to break.
Hers weighed 5.7oz, a tiddler compared to the world record holder which had a double yolk and double shell and was 16oz.
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Eggs-straordinary! Harriet the hen could crack the record | Mail Online
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