XL eggs from mega-chickens?

[CanIRetirePlease]

I bought some XL eggs in the shop - they are so huge they don’t fit properly in my fridge rack.

I pity the poor hen that had to pop these out. Do they come from XL hens?! If not how is it possible for such massive eggs to be produced by a normal hen?

I have never heard of this? 🤔
Do they pump the feed with hormones ? 🐔 🥚 🐥
Or maybe it's an older hen?
Or it's just genetics?

Edited to say: My hubby was a big baby (just over ten pounds) and his mum was only tiny 😆

I think eggs get bigger as hens get older. But yes, it’s uncomfortable for them. I suppose in the wild they wouldn’t have lived to get that old!

Unless they are breeding for bigger eggs, which would be cruel.

I have heard that large eggs are considered cruel to chickens, so perhaps they are bred to encourage bigger eggs. There was a campaign to stop recipe writers specifying large eggs so people didn't think they had to buy them.

The best eggs to buy are mixed sized free range ones because they're whatever size the hens naturally produce. They're also significantly cheaper - just about every supermarket sells them for under £1.50 for 6.

https://www.bhwt.org.uk/blog/health-welfare/does-size-matter-yes-it-does/

They come from normal ish chickens but not small ones. I have some hens who lay quite large eggs. They aren’t massively bigger than any of the others. They are just a large egg breed. Some young hens lay very large eggs to start (how you get double yolks) and that may also be where these come from. In that case, it’s more of a hormonal blip.