Cuban Man's Giant Egg Cracks Local Record Books

HAVANA - A Cuban farmer says one of his hens has laid an egg weighing nearly six ounces — roughly triple the normal size — and neighbors are lining up to see it before it becomes breakfast.

The egg, laid this week in the eastern province of Granma, weighs 5.8 ounces and contains what the farmer believes is a double yolk. He has declined offers to sell it, preferring to show it off from his porch.

Cuban state television dispatched a crew, and the farmer says he has contacted record-keepers. The heaviest chicken egg on record, laid in New Jersey in 1956, weighed 16 ounces — a mark that stands unchallenged.

The hen, described as unimpressed, has returned to her normal laying schedule.

Oversized eggs usually result from a glitch in the hen's laying cycle, poultry experts say, and double-yolkers are prized by bakers and considered lucky in many cultures.

The farmer says he will keep the egg on display for the week. "Then," he said, "we make the biggest tortilla in Granma."

___

Associated Press writers contributed to this report.

RECOMMEND THIS STORY