A Northumberland family have been left 'shocked' at the size of an egg laid by one of their chickens. Ian Gordon says his children – who saved up their pocket money to buy five pet chickens in April last year – were surprised to discover the massive egg on Friday, July 24.
Children's egg-selling venture
Ian's children, Georgie, aged nine, and six-year-old Raffy, have been running a stall selling eggs at the end of their driveway on their farm in Milbourne, Ponteland, ever since the hens could lay. The Blacktail hens, named: Ranger, Chip, Burp, Pump, and Saffron, were bought from Durham Hens and are now very much a part of the family.
Weighing in at 113g, the 'massive' egg is twice the size of a regular chicken egg. Speaking to ChronicleLive, Ian said: "We’re a long way off the world record, which is apparently was a 454g egg laid a chicken in the USA in 1956! But considering the egg we got on Friday was twice the size of a regular chicken egg, we got quite a shock seeing the size of it when we opened up the nesting box!"
Family reaction to the giant egg
Once the chickens started laying eggs, they [Georgie and Raffy] set up a little stall to sell the eggs at the end of the driveway. We have had a few double-yolkers and a couple of big eggs but we haven’t had anything close to the size of egg we were surprised with on Friday!"
Georgie said: "I was very excited and intrigued of what the egg would be as I heard it could a double yolker or an egg instead an egg. I was also curious about which chicken had laid the egg and how it turned out to be so big. It’s very exciting running the egg stall and it’s great when someone purchases the eggs because we then use that money to buy the chickens food and resources. I really love the chickens now we’ve all grown a big relationship with them and it’s been really fun raising them."
Raffy added: "I was absolutely amazed when I saw the egg - it was massive! It’s really good selling eggs because I get excited when I check the box when I get home from school and I like collecting the money."
Learning about business and animal care
Ian says he has been "so pleased" with how engaged the children have been raising the chickens from little baby chicks to now. "They love collecting the eggs from the nesting boxes each day and have become so confident in handling them and caring for them. It's the first time any of us have had chickens so I did a lot of research before buying them and have learnt so much more about chicken keeping since. They're great fun though and I love how they follow me round the garden. They're always busy."
"We have kept a spreadsheet since day one of all the eggs laid, sales, expenses, etc, with the aim of showing the kids that they don't just get free money from selling the eggs and that things like supplies and feed cost money, which you have to take into consideration. They're only little but I think it's important that they gain an understanding of these things while they run their little stall."
Farm life and community
The farm that belongs to Ian's father-in-law was originally a diary farm for many years ago. Now an arable farm, the only other animals are the family's pet cat and three goldfish but the Georgie and Raffy have enjoyed helping their neighbours, Mandy and Farmer John, with their lambing every springtime for the past few years. Ian added: "They head up after school every Friday for a few months to feed them. The kids just adore animals."
