I have a strange chicken egg ...

[Susan Jane Hogarth]

Tom Fantacone wrote:
> 
> I bought some eggs at the supermarket the other day.  One of them has a
> small brown spot on the shell, and a tiny white feather growing out of
> the spot.  Is this very unusual?  What could cause it?

Are you _certain_ the feather is *growing* out of the spot? This sounds
like what I used to see all the time when I kept hens - a blood spot
would be left on the shell by the hen, and feathers would stick to it...

<useless trivia>
When the pullets (young hens) first start laying, they haven't gotten
the shell part down right; so often an egg will be laid which is
"softshell" but otherwise perfectly formed (although often the first few
eggs are small and round...)
</useless trivia>

> Should I eat it?

Why? If it bothers you in the *least*, I wouln't begrudge the nickel the
egg may have cost - toss it. OR...

> Should I expose it to radiation and see if it hatches into a super
> chicken?

Go for it! ;-) Hmmm, reminds me of an H.G. Wells story... (but then, so
do *most* things :)
 
> Looking for answers to at least some of these questions ...

I'm afraid you probably got more than you bargained for ;-)
<sigh> I *miss* having chickens around....
-- 
'To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.'
        Woody Allen, from "Stardust memories"

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