Scott Stockman manages Stockman’s Eggs, a family business that delivers fresh eggs to stores all across Australia.
In early March he posted a photo of the incredible discovery that he and his employees made on the hen farm.
There, in the middle of all the other eggs, lay a giant egg. To say it stood out from all the others would be an understatement!
The egg weighed 176 grams, nearly three times the average hen egg.
And when the egg cracked, the next surprise would soon reveal itself…
What was hiding in there?
Inside the egg lay another, smaller egg – a biological phenomenon called “counter-peristalsis contraction.” It occurs when an egg that isn’t ready to be laid makes its way back into the hen’s reprodution line, and a new egg forms around it. But it’s extremely uncommon for two intact eggs to be laid together like this.
The unexpected discovery quickly spread across the internet, and many experts have had to do a double take when they see the photos.
“Biologically I’m struggling to understand why that smaller egg never dropped out, it’s very odd,” professor Raf Freire tells ABC News.
Scott Stockman, who made the discovery, is just as astounded.
“It’s just incredible actually —to have two perfectly formed eggs together,” Scott tells ABC News.
But they didn’t eat the egg – instead the egg went on to be an internet sensation, astounding everyone who sees it.