Hen lays Britain’s smallest ever egg… the size of a 50p coin

A hen has laid Britain’s smallest egg – which is the size of a 50p COIN.

Karen Taylor, 56, was collecting eggs from her coops in her back garden when she spotted the tiny shell, which measures 1.2in (3cm) high and 0.6in (1.5cm) wide.

An average hen’s egg is 2.3in (5.8cm) tall and 1.75in (4cm) wide, which means the minuscule version is half the size of a normal one.

The egg weighed just 5g – making it 12 times smaller than a normal one which weighs around 62g.

It was laid by one her two chickens at the family home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs., – and has been spared the frying pan in a bid to be officially crowned Britain’s smallest by Guinness.

Karen, a teaching assistant and mother-of-two, said: “When I saw it I did go on the internet to see just how small chicken’s eggs can be.

“I did find one chap who had an egg weighing the same as this one but the length of ours (about 3cm) is smaller.

“It’s not something we will be cooking but we shall just keep hold of it for now until we find out if it is one of the smallest recorded.

“The chicken we believe it has come from hasn’t laid normal-sized eggs for a few months.”

Husband Alan, 56, a teacher, added: “We have two chickens and one of them has been producing smaller and smaller eggs and this one is the smallest so far.”

The couple’s two chickens live in a converted wendy house in their back garden and are fed on a diet of corn, grit and pellets.

They are now keeping the egg safe in a jam jar while they wait for confirmation of it being a world record from Guinness.