A Sri Lankan hen has given birth to a chick without an egg, BBC reported.

Instead of passing out of the hen's body and being incubated outside, the egg was incubated in the hen for 21 days and then hatched inside the hen. The chick is fully formed and healthy, although the mother has died of internal wounds.

The story made headlines in Sri Lanka, with the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror concluding: "The chicken came first; not the egg."

(China.org.cn April 22, 2012)

據英國廣播公司報道，斯里蘭卡一只母雞沒有下蛋就直接生出了小雞。

受精卵沒有從母雞體內產出并在外邊孵化，卻在母雞身體里發育了21天后破殼而出。這只小雞發育完全，很健康，不過母雞卻因內傷而死。

這件事在該國引起轟動，斯里蘭卡《每日鏡報》總結道：“原來是先有雞，后有蛋啊！”