Eggscruciating! Roberta the hen dies after laying enormous egg

Holy cow!!! *i mean, chicken!* Holy chicken!!!

PS. I cannot believe the farmer is going to turn "Little Roberta" into an omelette!

I wonder if the chicken in the egg would grow up to be abnormally large due to it's size..

The egg probably was not fertilized.

Simplistic, the owner is going to turn it into an omellette from what I have read about this.

It would be interesting if it was fertilized. I would have loved to see what the size of the chick would have been.

I wonder if the chicken in the egg would grow up to be abnormally large due to it's size..

Definitely a chicken on 'roids'

I would have loved to see what the size of the chick would have been.

What about the size of that cock rooster?

Dear Heels,
The shell will probably show up on eBay, so keep an eye peeled.

That's an Egg-cellent guitar. I've got a Martin D-18 Dreadnought and a Taylor 12-string.

#11: "The picture of Roberta had a comb ... I think that was the rooster."

Actually, the picture is of a hen. All chickens have combs. Roosters just have huge ones, and really huge wattles (under the beak, on the neck), as well.

The chicken looks like a Rhode Island Red... we used to raise them when I was a kid on the farm. They do lay brown eggs (I imagine other breeds also lay brown eggs, but I am familiar only with the Rhode Island Red).

I never knew that. Thanks. I somehow never noticed them unless it was the rooster. And since you know roosters - what's up with the crowing all the time?

#11.2: "what's up with the crowing all the time?"

All the time? Actually, they don't crow all the time. They do crow at daybreak... and they do crow if they're trying to get the attention of an attractive hen (but even then, not all the time). I've seen two roosters face off and crow at each other while flapping their wings... sometimes they fight, but mostly they mark off territory and maintain an armed truce.

At one time (when I was a kid on the farm) we had three roosters. We didn't need three roosters (our chicken breeding was for our own purposes only, to assure that we always had enough eggs). The three roosters got along fairly well until a certain point - I'm not sure what set it off because by then we'd discvoered that I was allergic to chicken feathers and I had to stay out of the chicken house. Anyway, my parents decided that we had to get rid of two roosters. The mistake they made was in getting rid of the wrong two, the smaller two, the least agressive two...

Actually, we ate them.

The survivor, a huge monster that stood roughly 4 feet tall when he stretched, who had 3' spikes on each leg, was magnificent to look at but he was aggressive. He wouldn't let anyone enter the hen house even to gather the eggs. Believe me, you do not want to be attacked by a 4' bird with 3" talons...

So, the routine for gathering eggs changed. We waited until the rooster left the hen house for the yard, then dashed in and closed his exit door until the eggs were gathered. It was time consuming and risky. We decided the time was right to leave a few eggs in the nests to hatch (and thereby get a new rooster), and get rid of the Big Red.

I mentioned to a neighbor that we were planning to assassinate Big Red, and she was horrified. She asked if she could buy him. I explained that no one can get close enough to him to buy him... that my stepfather was planning to do him in with a .22 handgun. Nevertheless, she pleaded, I asked my parents, and they said that if she could catch him she could have him (we really didn't want to kill the old guy, but wanted him outta there).

Well, my neighbor came up with an old grain sack ("gunny sack"), marched into the chicken house (while we stood outside holding our breath), and after a few squawks and some banging and crashing, she emerged with a gunny sack full of Big Red and a grin bigger than the rooster.

It was a long time before I would visit that neighbor again. But, we rode the schoolbus together, and one day I asked her about Big Red. She told me that her whole family loved him and that he was a great pet.

Huh?

Well, it actually made sense. He no longer had his hens to defend. He got his 3-squares and lots of treats and his new humans were just fine with him.

Sigh. Someday I'll tell about the goat.

Great story...thanks.

Great story...thanks.

Thanks... I'm glad you liked it!

bitemore,

Hello there! I enjoyed your rooster story very much. It deserves to be turned into a seed.

Meanwhile, my eyebrows are still hovering right below my hairline: Did you say 4 feet? A 4 foot tall rooster??? I would justifiably call him Roosterzilla. I still have not wrapped my head around this picture.

Thanks for the story. And don't forget: You could almost copy paste it into a new article... You could spice it up a bit more (not even necessary) and go for it!

Karl, thanks for your comment on my rooster story.

Yes, you read it right. Big Red was about 4 feet when he stood at his tallest. I was 5'6" then (my full height) and he came nearly to my chest. He was awesome! It is also why we were terrified of him. Anyway, he is still the tallest rooster I have ever seen, certainly the biggest one we ever raised. We were all thrilled that he found a good home with the neighbors.

I'll think about your suggestion about making his story into an article. Thanks again for your comment.

biremore, "Survivor" - this rooster - attacked me when I fed him and his hens. He attacked me while following me in my own yard while I fed birds or did yardwork. His owners told me to carry a shovel and feel free to use it - sure enough, he backed off when I raised it.

Survivor wasn't close to 4'. I can't even imagine ... It is funny how once you take away their reason for aggression, they can make good pets.

#11.8: "Survivor wasn't close to 4'. I can't even imagine ... It is funny how once you take away their reason for aggression, they can make good pets."

Who'd a thunk that there would be such a thing as "chicken psychology?" Back when Big Red had our number, we had no clue as to why he behaved as he did. It wasn't until many years later that I finally put 2 & 2 together and realized that Red was only "protecting" his harem. I'm glad he didn't end up on our dinner table. He was truly magnificent.

#12: "Now I'm wondering if the hens were afraid of Big Red????"

Nawww... if anything, they hired him as a "hit rooster." He sure as heck tried to do his job!