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M/SUNNY Temp: 53 °F Wind: NW at 12 mph Saturday, April 26, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 2, 2003 Eagle Point resident Laura Deen�s Araucana chicken Ari laid an oversized egg that�s something to crow about � though it probably won�t set any records. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell It doesn’t quite break records, but a chicken in Eagle Point laid a minor marvel By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT — At 9 inches around and weighing nearly 6 ounces, this great bluish orb is big enough to give the Easter bunny a hernia. But just what lies inside this egg laid last week by Ari, an Araucana chicken from Eagle Point, is a mystery that owner Laura Deen may choose never to crack. "I’d love to see what’s inside," Deen says. "Everybody I’ve talked to wants to know if it’s one yolk or two. But I’d hate just to break it. It could be a record." But the notion of the Guinness Book of World Records heading up the Butte Falls Highway to Deen’s mini-ranch is nothing but yolk folklore. The egg is big for an Araucana, a small fancy breed known as the "Easter Egg chicken" because it often lays blue, green or pink eggs. But Ari’s best-laid offering amounts to a slightly unusual blip in the commercial poultry world, where size does matter. Most commercial chickens lay eggs weighing about 56 grams, and very large eggs would weigh 70 to 80 grams, says Jim Hermes, a poultry expert with the Oregon State University Extension Service in Corvallis. At 170 grams, however, Ari’s egg is about three times the size of a regular egg but not enough to crack any super-egg lists. "It’s a little quirk of nature that probably happens more often than we’d think," Hermes says. It happened Friday to Ari, one of about 20 chickens that inhabit the Deen ranch along with a menagerie of other critters, including large poodles, small Yorkshire terriers, goats, cats and doves. Bought a year ago at the Grange Co-op, Ari lays a single egg each day like clockwork. But on this day, Deen reached beneath the seemingly dazed bird and found the ultra-egg. "I couldn’t believe it," Deen says. "I’ve seen big eggs, even double-yoked eggs before, but nothing like this." Hermes says the orb could be a double-yoked egg, which rarely produces a chick. It also could be a triple yoke — or perhaps even a full-sized egg laid inside another egg, complete with two shells and extra membrane, he says. "Or, it could be just a very large egg," Hermes says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S