John
03-22-2010, 06:34 PM
A hen in China has produced a soft-shelled egg in the shape of a figure eight.
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1573771.jpg
Mrs Dong, of Shijiazhuang, northern China's Hebei province, first suspected something unusual when she heard the hen making unusual noises one night.
"I had never heard anything like it before. When I approached she stopped making the noise but as soon as I left she started again," she said.
"The next morning, I was so surprised to find the weird-shaped egg in the hen's cage."
Mrs Dong said her neighbours had all been coming around to her home to see the egg for themselves.
She has decided not to sell or eat the egg but is keeping it, preserved in a box, because it is so unusual.
Professor Wu Yuefeng of Hebei University's Life Science department, said: "It's very rare to see such a weird-shaped egg.
"This will be the result of a lack of calcium in the hen's diet which has prevented it from creating a hard shell."
http://www.ananova.com/images/web/1573771.jpg
Mrs Dong, of Shijiazhuang, northern China's Hebei province, first suspected something unusual when she heard the hen making unusual noises one night.
"I had never heard anything like it before. When I approached she stopped making the noise but as soon as I left she started again," she said.
"The next morning, I was so surprised to find the weird-shaped egg in the hen's cage."
Mrs Dong said her neighbours had all been coming around to her home to see the egg for themselves.
She has decided not to sell or eat the egg but is keeping it, preserved in a box, because it is so unusual.
Professor Wu Yuefeng of Hebei University's Life Science department, said: "It's very rare to see such a weird-shaped egg.
"This will be the result of a lack of calcium in the hen's diet which has prevented it from creating a hard shell."