Feb 15 2008

Shell Game

Published by Gaius at 1:24 pm under Animals

A British woman has made an exciting discovery. Upon cracking open and egg she had bought at the local market, she discovered another, intact egg inside the first one.

A woman was shell shocked after she cracked an egg - and found another one inside it.

Fran Vincent, 54, made the eggs-traordinary discovery when she opened the 5.50z free range egg to make a cake.

She was astonished to find a smaller egg - perfectly intact - inside the larger 3.5ins one, which she had bought from a supermarket.

Fran, a factory worker from Seaton, Devon, said: "I thought it looked a bit big - I thought it might have been a duck egg at first.

"I cracked it open and out came the white and yolk but inside was another egg in its shell. I have never seen anything like it before - they're almost like twins."

David Lanning, of Lloyd Maunder poultry firm, said it was "extremely rare" for a double egg to reach a customer.

He said: "An incongruity like this would normally be picked up during the checking phase at the farm.

"As it was being formed it passed down through the hen's oviduct - the passage from the ovaries to the outside of the body - where the shell is made.

"In young hens, ovulating can be quite irregular. The hen has obviously ovulated quickly twice. The second egg has caught up with the first and the shell has formed around the two of them.

"It's more common with young hens. It's unusual and doesn't happen that often. But it is extremely rare for it to reach the shop shelf."  

Finally, the truth is out. The closely guarded secret of how turduckens happen has finally been revealed! (We're assuming that there is yet another egg inside the second one.)

4 Responses to “Shell Game”

  1. Sylviaon 15 Feb 2008 at 4:15 pm

    Double yolkers are common in pullets, but I’ve never seen a double shell.  Cool!

  2. McGeheeon 15 Feb 2008 at 4:37 pm

    That wasn’t a chicken egg — it was a tribble egg! They’re born pregnant, reproducing at will.And brother, have they got a lot of will!

  3. Bagleyon 15 Feb 2008 at 5:17 pm

    “The closely guarded secret of how turduckens happen has finally been revealed!”

    Nice!

  4. wheelson 17 Feb 2008 at 10:14 am

    I’m certain that it must have been an egg from a Russian Nesting Hen.I ran into a double-yolked egg <a href="http://bendreth.com/?p=199">last year</a>. And, I hesitate to say it, but <a hef="http://bendreth.com/?p=320">the Turducken has been superceded</a>.