Top 10 largest eggs in animals and birds

Chicken eggs familiar to us can weigh from 35 to 75 g, depending on the breed of the chicken that laid it. She gives an average of one egg, lays about 300 eggs per year. This is influenced by the conditions of detention, lighting and food.

But, besides chickens, other animals and birds also lay eggs, some of them reach a record large size. The largest eggs belong to ostriches, but there are other representatives of the animal world in which the size of “temporary dwellings” for cubs is also quite large. Let’s get to know them!

10 Chinese giant salamander egg, 40-70 g

This is an amphibian, whose length reaches 180 cm, and it weighs up to 70 kg, gray-brown in color. You can meet her in China. Eats Chinese giant salamander crustaceans, fish, amphibians.

Salamanders become sexually mature at the age of 10, but sometimes at 5 years old, if they stretch up to 40-50 cm. At first, males look for a suitable site for spawning: underwater pits, heaps of sand or stones. They lure females into their nest, where they lay 2 egg cords, which contain testicles 7-8 mm in diameter, about 500 eggs in total. The male fertilizes them.

Despite the fact that at first they are tiny in size, gradually the eggs begin to absorb moisture and become up to 4 cm in size. After about 2 months, larvae about 3 cm long hatch from them. In the 60s, this type of salamander almost disappeared, but later began to work government program that helped save them.

9. Chicken egg, 50-100 g

The weight of chicken eggs often depends on the breed. So, those that lay large eggs include leghorns (60 g), dominants, a hardy and undemanding breed (70 g), broken browns, a German breed that lays about 320 eggs per year with an average weight of up to 65 g.

But there are eggs-record holders. So, a hen named Harriet laid a testicle weighing 163 g, its size is 11,5 cm. The owner of the chicken, farmer Tony Barbuti, said that Harriet was proud, and it cost her a lot of effort, after she laid the egg, she began to limp on one leg.

But the largest egg was laid by the chicken of the peasant Murman Modebadze from Georgia in 2011. It weighed 170 g, was 8,2 cm long and 6,2 cm wide.

8. Whale shark egg, 60-100 g

For a long time, scientists did not know how to reproduce whale shark. Then it became known that they are ovoviviparous, i.e. embryos appear in eggs that look like capsules, but hatch from them while still in the womb. Before that, many believed that she lays eggs.

The length of this testicle is 63 cm, the width is 40 cm. Sharks hatch from it, the size of which does not exceed 50 cm. they have an internal supply of nutrients.

7. Salted crocodile egg, 110-120 g

A combed crocodile able to breed at the age of 10 to 12 years, if it is a female, and not earlier than 16 years, if it is a male. This happens during the rainy season, i.e. from November to March.

The female begins to lay eggs, from 25 to 90 pieces, but usually no more than 40-60, in the nest, and then buries them. The nest is about 7 m in diameter, made of leaves and mud, up to 1 m high. The female stays next to the eggs for about 90 days, guarding them, remaining in a dug ditch with mud.

Hearing the crocodiles squeak, she breaks the pile and helps them out. Then she transfers all the cubs to the water and takes care of them up to 5-7 months.

6. Komodo dragon egg, 200 g

Komodo dragon begins to breed at 5-10 years of age, this occurs in winter, during the dry season. After mating, the female looks for a place where she can lay her eggs. Most often these are compost heaps. The monitor lizard makes a deep hole or several holes in it, and in July-August lays up to 20 eggs. They are about 10 cm long and up to 6 cm in diameter.

Until the babies hatch, she guards the nest. They are born in April or May. As soon as they hatch, small monitor lizards climb a tree and hide there to remain out of reach of others.

5. Emperor penguin egg, 350-450 g

breeding season emperor penguin – from May to June. The usual air temperature is about -50°C, strong wind blows. The female lays 1 egg, which, using her beak, moves it onto her paws and covers it with the so-called hoop bag.

When the egg appears, the parents shout with joy. The size of the testicle is 12 by 9 cm, it weighs about 450 g. After a couple of hours, the male begins to take care of it. The eggs are incubated for 62 to 66 days. The female at this time goes to feed, and the males look after their eggs.

4. Kiwi egg, 450 g

Kiwi form their pairs for a long time. Their mating season is from June to March. After about 3 weeks, a kiwi lays an egg in its hole or under a tree, occasionally – 2. Its weight is about a quarter of the mass of the kiwi itself, up to 450 g. It is whitish or slightly greenish in color, its size is 12 cm by 8 cm, and in it a lot of yolk.

While the female is carrying this egg, she eats a lot, about 3 times more, but refuses food 2-3 days before laying. After the egg is laid, the male incubates it, leaving only to eat.

3. Cassowary egg, 650 g

Casuarami called flightless birds that live in New Guinea and Australia. Most birds hatch from July to October, but some do so at other times.

After mating, the couple lives together for several weeks. The female lays 3 to 8 eggs in the nest prepared for her by the male. These eggs are pale greenish in color with a blue tint. They are 9 to 14 cm long and weigh about 650 g.

Incubation of the eggs and care of the chicks is the responsibility of the males, while the females do not take part in this and often go to another male’s site to mate again. For about 2 months, the males incubate the eggs, after which the chicks hatch from them.

2. Emu egg, 700-900 g

One of the largest birds lives in Australia. The male makes a nest for the female and leads her to it. Mating occurs in May or June, after which the pair stay together for up to 5 months. Every day or after 3 days, the female lays one egg, of which there are 11-20 in total. They are huge, dark green in color, with a thick shell.

weigh eggs emu can be from 700 to 900 g, i.e. as well as 10-12 chicken eggs. The nest is a hole at the bottom of which there are grass, foliage, branches. Several females can rush to one nest, so the clutch contains from 15 to 25 eggs. But it also happens that the male has only 7-8 of them. Only the male incubates them for about 2 months. During this time, he rarely eats.

1. Ostrich egg, 1,5-2 kg

Flightless bird that lives in groups: 1 male and females. When breeding time comes, males try to attract females, they can compete for them. The main male usually covers all his “wives” who are in his harem, but for himself he chooses one female, with whom he then incubates the egg.

In the ground or sand, the future dad scrapes a nesting hole for everyone with a depth of 30 to 60 cm. Eggs are laid there. Their number can be different, from 15 to 20, sometimes up to 30, but in some regions up to 50-60 eggs. Their length is from 15 to 21 cm, they weigh from 1,5 to 2 kg.

They have a thick shell, they are yellowish, rarely white or dark in color. When the main female lays her eggs, she waits for the others to leave, puts hers in the center and begins to incubate them. During the day, females sit on the masonry, at night – ostrich, it also happens that no one sits on them. All this lasts up to 45 days, until the ostriches hatch.