1.4 kg3.09 lb
An ostrich egg weighs about 1.4 kg (3.1 lb), roughly as much as 24 chicken eggs. Most eggs fall between 1.2 and 1.8 kg (2.6 to 3.9 lb), depending on the hen. The heaviest on record, laid in Sweden in 2008, weighed 2.589 kg (5 lb 11 oz). It is the largest egg of any living bird.
| Heaviest on recordLaid at an ostrich farm in Borlänge, Sweden, 2008 | 2.59 kg5.71 lb |
|---|---|
| Earlier record claimMajorca, Spain, 2004 | 2.37 kg5.23 lb |
| Large eggTop of the average range Guinness World Records gives | 1.78 kg3.92 lb |
| Typical eggAbout 15 cm (5.9 in) long and 13 cm (5.1 in) wide | 1.4 kg3.09 lb |
| Masai ostrich eggAverage of 18 eggs in a 2026 study | 1.24 kg2.73 lb |
| Small eggLower edge of the “small” class in a Turkish hatching study | 1.2 kg2.65 lb |
The usual figure is 1.4 kg (3.1 lb) for an egg about 15 cm (5.9 in) long and 13 cm (5.1 in) wide. That is more than 20 times the weight of a chicken egg, yet only 1 to 4% of the weight of the hen that lays it. The San Diego Zoo rounds it to about 1.5 kg (3 lb), the weight of roughly 24 chicken eggs.
Real eggs spread out around that number. Guinness World Records describes the average egg as 15 to 20 cm long and 1.65 to 1.78 kg, a little heavier than most other sources. A Turkish study of hatching eggs sorted them into small (1.2 to 1.4 kg), medium (1.4 to 1.6 kg) and large (over 1.6 kg). On an ostrich farm in India followed over seven years, the mean was 1.48 kg (3.3 lb), and it changed significantly from one year to the next.
The type of ostrich matters too. A 2026 study of 18 eggs from the Masai ostrich, the East African subspecies, found an average of only 1.24 kg (2.7 lb).
In the Masai ostrich study, the shell made up 18.4% of the egg’s weight, the yolk 28.6% and the white 53%. Applied to a 1.4 kg egg, that is about 260 g of shell, 400 g of yolk and 740 g of white, so a bit over 1.1 kg (2.5 lb) is edible.
The shell in that study averaged about 2 mm thick (Guinness gives 1.5 mm). It is strong enough that, according to Guinness, an ostrich egg can bear the weight of a 115 kg (253 lb) person standing on it.
The heaviest egg on record weighed 2.589 kg (5 lb 11 oz), almost twice the typical weight. It was laid in 2008 at an ostrich farm run by Kerstin and Gunnar Sahlin in Borlänge, Sweden, and it measured about 42 cm around and 21 cm long.
The title has changed hands several times. In 2004 a farm near Campos on Majorca had an egg of 2.371 kg weighed in front of local officials, 21 g more than the record at the time, a 2.35 kg egg laid in China in 1997. The Sahlins’ farm reported an egg of just over 2.5 kg in 2006, beating a 2.484 kg egg from the Netherlands, before topping that again two years later.
A hard-boiled ostrich egg takes about 90 minutes. One egg holds roughly 2,000 calories, and the shell is tough enough that people often open it with a drill, a small saw or a chisel instead of cracking it on the side of a bowl. Tasting Table puts the price of a single egg at 40 to 100 dollars.
A typical ostrich egg weighs about 3.1 lb (1.4 kg), and most fall between 2.6 and 3.9 lb. The record egg weighed 5 lb 11 oz (2.589 kg).
About 24 by weight, according to the San Diego Zoo. Other sources give 20 to 25, depending on the size of both eggs.
About 90 minutes to hard-boil. A softer boil takes up to about an hour.
Usually, yes. Guinness World Records lists it as the toughest egg of any living bird and says it can hold the weight of a 115 kg (253 lb) person.
It is the biggest egg of any living bird. Extinct birds such as Madagascar’s elephant birds and New Zealand’s giant moa laid larger ones.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
