However, some neighbours believe the pensioner could have been the victim of hoaxers, as the large egg is the same colour and size as those laid by geese.

One source said: "I think this is could be a prank. It's pretty easy to get your hands on a goose egg at this time of year and it looks remarkably like one."

"I found it in the run on Wednesday morning," said Mrs Smith, a retired school cook. "I couldn't believe it. The eggs we normally get are about 2oz. We've had the odd one with a double yolk before but nothing like this. I have no idea which one of them laid it."

She added: "It's not a record. The Guinness Book of Records says the biggest chicken egg they know of weighed 12oz. But I don't know anyone whose seen anything like it before.  "We'll have to eat it eventually or it will go off. Goodness knows how many yolks there'll be. We'll need a lot of toast."

A nun has been arrested in Holland after she refused to tell police where she had hidden her 18 chickens.

Mother Mary, 58, has been accused of breaching restrictions on the movement of poultry which are intended to control an outbreak of avian influenza.  Public health inspectors visited the abbey where she lives in Asten and asked to inspect the chickens kept there by the nuns.

Mother Mary refused to hand over the chickens and would not tell inspectors where they were, reports Trouw newspaper.  The inspectors reported Mother Mary to the police and she was arrested and taken to a police station at Venlo for questioning.  The other nuns at the abbey say she can only be held for three days and that they will pray for her until she is released.

Sister Makrina, said: "We sent them on a long vacation. We respect life, even if it's only chickens and we don't let the ministry destroy them for pure economic reasons."

Trained hawks employed to keep pigeons from making a mess on visitors in a Manhattan park have been grounded because one of the birds mistook a chihuahua as its lunch.

A 56-centimetre hawk swooped down and gouged the diminutive pooch with one of its talons while the dog was nosing around in the bushes of Bryant Park, located behind the New York Public Library.

The hawk was quickly separated from the dog. A park employee flagged down a cab so the dog's owner could take it to a vet, said Richard Dillon, vice president of security for Bryant Park.

The programme, which aims to scare pigeons out of the park, could be finished. A final decision is expected by the end of the week.

"I sincerely believe the bird mistook it for a rat because it was in the shrubbery," said Thomas Cullen, the falconer hired to run the anti-pigeon program.

The hawk, named Galan, was taken to Cullen's headquarters in Goshen, New York.  The Bryant Park Restoration Corp. picked up the vet's bill, Cullen said.

Daniel Biederman, executive director of the Bryant Park group, said the hawk programme has been a success since it was started in April, with pigeon infestation down 50 per cent and fewer complaints from visitors.  However, city Parks Department officials called for its end.

"We place the safety of park users, including their pets, over any minor inconvenience that may be caused by pigeons," said spokeswoman Megan Sheekey.

© Associated Press