THREE-year-old Alfie Benstead had the shock of his short life on Bank Holiday Monday, when he discovered that one of his pet chickens had laid an enormous egg, nearly four inches high.
The eggciting find was made when Alfie went to his hen house in Doddington with his mum Dawn and dad Matthew - and on Tuesday he tucked into the oversized egg for his tea, as a dippy egg with soldiers.
Dawn said: “It was the biggest egg I have ever seen, about three times the size of the usual eggs we get. We had 11 normal sized eggs that day, along with one huge one. Alfie has been really keen to eat the egg.
“Alfie really adores his chickens, and calls them his girls. He loves to check the laying boxes, and often asks for a snack of apple, banana or grapes, so he can share it with the chickens.”
The youngster, who attends Doddington Pre-school and has a 10-week old baby sister called Molly, has been the proud owner of a dozen hens for just over a year.
Dawn explained: “Alfie’s Nanny and Grandad, Ray and Bonnie Benstead, lost their 12 chickens to a fox, and Alfie was devastated that he had no chickens to visit.
“He wants some of his own, and wasn’t satisfied to just have a couple of hens, he wanted 12 just like his grandparents had. He gives them all names, but the names change every day.
“We have no idea which of the hens laid the huge egg, and since Bank Holiday Monday, all the eggs have been back to normal size.”
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