810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 8, 1995
1 A
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
Adam Huegal gathers eggs
every day from the family’s flock
of 23 chickens. He’s accustomed
to gathering extra large eggs, but
recently he was flabbergasted
when he found an egg in the nest
that was larger than a goose egg.
Two days later, he found
another huge egg. Two days after
that, another one showed up in the
nest
That day a chicken died and
since then, Adam hasn’t found
another egg that matches that size.
He suspects laying such large
eggs caused the chicken to “floop
the coop.”
When Adam’s mother Shirley
cracked one of the eggs to use in
baking, she was in for another sur
prise. Inside the egg shell was a
perfectly formed egg plus another
perfectly-shaped whole egg
shell intact. She cracked open the
second hugh egg, and found an
identical situation.
“I’ve been raising chickens for
27 years and I never saw anything
like it,” she said.
Neither have the people she
contacted.
The Huegals weighed the egg
Can you Identify Butterscotch, Skunk, Cocoa, Milky Way,
Reeses, Holstein, and Mud.
Kids:
Surprise Your Family!
Kids, surprise your mother, father, grand
ma or grandpa, by sending us a little write up
about them. If you have a photo, please
include one with the story. If you prefer to
draw a picture, you may include that also.
Send your letters, stories, photos, and pic
tures to Lou Ann Good, Lancaster Farming,
P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA 17522.
Upcoming Stamp Show
KING OF PRUSSIA (Mont
gomery Co.) —A stamp show will
be held with a special emphasis on
encouraging youth to participate in
stamp collecting will be held on
April 22 and 23 at the Holiday Inn,
260 Mall Blvd., King of Prussia.
The Central Atlantic Stamp
id $,,
Chicken Lays Incredible Eggs
found inside the egg and found that
it went higher than the scale’s
measurements.
Although the Huegals don’t
know how much the eggs weigh,
Shirley measured them and found
they are TA x9V4 inches.
the chicken that laid these
amazing eggs was from a flock
called Red Sexlinks. known for
being good layers, and the same
breed that the Huegals always
raise. The company that sells the
breed wasn’t aware of such large
eggs being laid before.
Although Shirley did find a
triple yoker on occasion, she can’t
figure out why the chicken laid
such large eggs three times in a
row. The chickens are fed laying
mash with some chop added.
“Because chickens will cat any
thing, we also throw our garbage to
them,” Shirley said.
Maybe it was nutritional gar
bage.
The Huegals also raise geese in
the meadow, but those eggs are
white. The chicken eggs are brown
and the chickens are penned in a
shed. So it couldn’t be a relocated
goose egg.
In addition to chickens. Adam
helps his dad Ed take care of 60
Dealers Association (CASDA)
and the Lansdale 4-H Stamp Club
are sponsoring the event.
Free stamps, materials, and
information on stamp collecting
will be offered.
For more information, call
1-800-322-3232.
rabbits, 14 geese, four lambs, two
steers, 12 turkeys, and a constantly
exploding population of guinea
pigs that his mom raises to sell.
About 5 to 10 bunnies are usual
ly bom to the rabbits, but one time,
16 bunnies were bom from one
mother rabbit.
Generally the offspring are sold,
but occasionally Adam or his
mother find one that is particularly
endearing and they refuse to port
with it
That was the case of Red Ryder,
bom as a runt two years ago. The
male rabbit is so huge now that one
would never suspect it was once a
runt.
Shirley said that she was raised
on a farm, but it’s her husband, for
merly from the city, who most
enjoys raising animals on the fami
ly’s two acres.
The parents think it is good
training for kids to have chores and
animals to attend to every day.
Adam wrinkles his nose at that
statment because he prefers to play
baseball, soccer, and football.
Everyday he rushes through his
chores and heads for the neighbor
ing Amish farm.
“They have 12 kids, and they’re
better at baseball than the kids at
school,” Adam said.
It isn’t that Adam doesn’t like
the animals. He does, when he
doesn’t have other things to do.
But he doesn’t like cleaning out
pens on Saturday.
Adam’s favorite subject as a
fifth grader at Fritz Elementary
School is math. He plans to be a
banker.
Every week the family goes to
Green Dragon, a farmers’ market.
While his dad watches the auction
and his mother “goes every
where,” Adam buys and trades
baseball, basketball, and football
cards. He has 1,000 baseball cards.
Adam isn’t sure what he will do
with the one remaining egg. But
he’s been checking the “Guinness
Book of Records” and found that
the largest egg ever recorded had
nine yolks.
Imagine!
r «•-j
Eleven-year-old Adam holds Red Ryder, one of the many animals he and his
parents, Shirley and Ed, raise on their farmette.
orne
Amazing! Adam compares an extra-large size egg on the
right with one of the huge eggs one his chickens laid.
**A'/ ■ *
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For the first time In almost 30 years of raising chickens,
the Huegals found eggs that contained a perfectly formed
egg within an egg In addition to a yolk and white.
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