Have you ever seen an ostrich egg? It’s huge! Imagine holding one in your hands. It’s much bigger than a chicken egg, which you might be more familiar with. If you cracked open an ostrich egg, you would find a lot of yolk inside. But how much exactly? Let’s explore this fascinating topic together!
Ostriches lay the biggest eggs in the world. You might wonder why people don’t eat them more often. Well, just like chicken eggs, ostrich eggs can be laid without a baby bird inside. This happens when the eggs are not fertilized. Some farmers in the United States even keep ostriches just to collect their eggs.
One reason people don’t eat ostrich eggs often is because their shells are super thick. You can’t just crack them open like a chicken egg. You need a drill to get inside! But once you do, you’ll find that one ostrich egg has as much yolk as 25 chicken eggs. That’s enough to make a giant omelet for 12 people!
Ostriches are the largest birds today, but there used to be even bigger birds called elephant birds. They lived on the island of Madagascar but went extinct about a thousand years ago. Scientists have found some of their eggs, which are not fossils but real eggs that never hatched.
If an elephant bird egg were still around, it would be the biggest egg ever laid by any animal. One elephant bird egg would be equal to 125 chicken eggs! Imagine making an omelet the size of a couch!
People around the world eat eggs from different kinds of birds, not just chickens and ostriches. Some people enjoy duck eggs and goose eggs, which have a different taste and are creamier. Emus, which are smaller relatives of ostriches from Australia, lay beautiful, colorful eggs that are becoming popular too.
Did you know that fish lay eggs too? If you’ve ever had sushi, you might have eaten fish eggs without realizing it. These tiny eggs, called masago, are often used as a topping on sushi rolls. They don’t have shells and are very small, but they add a unique flavor to the dish.
Ostriches lay the largest eggs of any living animal, but people find chicken eggs easier to use. Many animals lay eggs, and people enjoy eating different kinds. Eggs are a fascinating part of nature, and there’s so much to learn about them!
Thanks for exploring the world of eggs with me. Stay curious and keep discovering new things!
Egg Size Comparison: Gather a few different types of eggs, such as chicken, duck, and quail eggs. If possible, find a picture of an ostrich egg. Have the children compare the sizes and weights of the eggs. Ask them to predict how many chicken eggs would fit inside an ostrich egg. Discuss why the size of the egg might matter for the animal that lays it.
Eggshell Experiment: Provide each child with a hard-boiled egg and a small magnifying glass. Let them examine the eggshell closely. Discuss the purpose of an eggshell and why some eggs, like ostrich eggs, have thicker shells. Ask them to think about how the thickness of the shell might protect the egg in the wild.
Egg Hunt Observation: Organize a small egg hunt using plastic eggs. Inside each egg, place a fun fact about different types of eggs or birds that lay them. After the hunt, gather the children and have them share the facts they found. Encourage them to think about why different animals might lay eggs of different sizes and colors.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ringing) – Hi, it’s Doug. I have here in my hands the egg of an ostrich. This is the actual egg with the yolk inside and everything. Just for comparison, here’s an egg you might be more familiar with, a chicken egg. Now, if we were to break open this ostrich egg, how much yolk do you think is inside of there? How big of an omelet could we make? Well, maybe you’ll find out today. Someone named Connor has a question about eggs. Let’s give him a call now. (phone ringing) – Hi Doug. – Hi Connor! – I have a question for you. Why don’t people eat ostrich eggs? – Oh, that’s a great question. Ostriches lay the biggest eggs in the world. It seems like it would make a lot of sense to eat ostrich eggs instead of chicken eggs. Now, maybe you’re thinking, “Wait a second. Wouldn’t an ostrich egg have a baby ostrich inside of it?” The answer is not necessarily. Chicken eggs work the same way. Definitely, an egg could have a baby chick growing inside if the egg has been fertilized by a rooster, a male chicken. But as long as roosters are kept away, female chickens will lay eggs that just contain yolk. No baby chick grows inside. This same thing is true for an ostrich. In fact, there are even a few places in the United States where farmers keep ostriches on their farms just to collect eggs from the female ostriches that lay them. A few years ago, I actually bought one of these ostrich eggs from an ostrich farm. I wanted to celebrate the fact that the company I work for, Mystery, had grown to be 10 people. I thought, how fun would it be to have a big breakfast with everyone at Mystery, only instead of making eggs from a bunch of chicken eggs, I use one big egg, an ostrich egg, to feed everybody? Well, I went to crack open the ostrich egg, and that’s when I found out one reason why ostrich eggs probably aren’t that popular. It turns out the shell on an ostrich egg is really thick, way thicker than a chicken egg. It’s so thick and tough that to get one open, you have to use a drill like you see this guy doing here. But once you do get it open, there’s so much yolk inside of there. A single ostrich egg contains about the same amount of yolk as 25 chicken eggs. That means if you were to drill open an ostrich egg, you can make an omelet big enough to feed 12 people. Just one egg. That day I made one at Mystery, and we definitely all had enough food to go around for everyone. Whenever I tell this story, lots of people ask me, “What did it taste like?” Honestly, I don’t think I could tell any difference in taste between ostrich egg and chicken egg. Okay, so ostrich eggs are huge but pretty hard to get open. Most people don’t want to start their morning by having to get out a drill to make their breakfast. But what other kinds of eggs have people tried eating before? Ostriches are the largest birds in the world, so it might not be surprising that their eggs are the biggest of any egg laid by any animal on earth. But that hasn’t always been true. There were once birds even bigger than ostriches, like the elephant bird. It lived on the island of Madagascar. Sadly, elephant birds went extinct. There’s not a single one of them left on earth. Scientists think it was probably because they were all hunted by people. But all of this only happened in the last thousand years. They didn’t go extinct millions of years ago like the dinosaurs did, and so that means people have been able to find a few examples of actual elephant bird eggs still around. Eggs that never hatched. Are you ready for this? These aren’t fossils that turned to stone. These are actual eggs. If the elephant bird were still alive, it would hold the record for having the largest eggs laid by any animal on earth. If you think an ostrich egg is big, take a look at this side-by-side comparison of an elephant bird egg with an ostrich egg. Now remember, I told you an ostrich egg is equal to about 25 chicken eggs. How many chicken eggs do you think a single elephant bird egg would equal? It might be fun for you to pause the video and take a guess. Okay, you ready? While no one has eaten an elephant bird egg, based on its size alone, we can guess that one elephant bird egg would be equal to 125 chicken eggs. With that, you could make an omelet the size of a couch. And probably a thousand years ago, people living on Madagascar actually might have eaten these for breakfast. But even today, people around the world do eat eggs of different kinds of birds. It’s not just chickens and ostriches. Some people also eat duck eggs and goose eggs. These are said to have a different flavor from chicken eggs, more filling and creamy tasting. Emus are a smaller Australian cousin of the ostrich, and more and more farmers are keeping emus around as emu eggs might become popular. Check these out. Emus lay one of the most colorful, beautiful types of eggs in the world. And it’s not even just birds that lay eggs. Here are some eggs you might have eaten and didn’t even know you were eating eggs. Have you ever had sushi before? That’s a Japanese food. On some sushi rolls, you can order them with this topping called masago, these little orangish-pink items that are put on almost like a topping. Each one of those little things is actually the egg of a small ocean fish. Fish eggs are eaten by lots of people all around the world. Unlike bird and reptile eggs, fish eggs don’t have any shell and they’re usually pretty small, which is why they’re often used as a topping on food. So, in summary, ostriches lay the largest egg of any animal on earth. And people do eat ostrich eggs, but most people find chicken eggs easier to deal with. Lots of animals lay eggs, though, not even just birds. And people eat all kinds of these. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Connor, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and picked out three Thanksgiving-related questions sent in to me that I’m thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: What’s a cornucopia? Why is it called Thanksgiving? Or, why do people eat turkey on Thanksgiving? So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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