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)

据英国广播公司报道，斯里兰卡一只母鸡没有下蛋就直接生出了小鸡。

受精卵没有从母鸡体内产出并在外边孵化，却在母鸡身体里发育了21天后破壳而出。这只小鸡发育完全，很健康，不过母鸡却因内伤而死。

这件事在该国引起轰动，斯里兰卡《每日镜报》总结道：“原来是先有鸡，后有蛋啊！”