But the surprises kept coming when the time finally came for the Loomberah cattle farmer to crack the 169.3g egg open.

Plenty of smart money was on Mr Powell finding at least two, or maybe even three, yolks inside the massive shell.

Some experts even thought there was a fair chance the goog could contain another whole or partial egg – Babushka doll-style – inside.

However, when Mr Powell eventually cracked the extra-thick shell, with the assistance of a knife, he was stunned to find just a single, bright yellow yolk.

The egg soon found its way into the frying pan alongside rashers of bacon, tomatoes and toast.

“It tasted fabulous,” he said.

“It was an exceptionally good egg.”

Mr Powell said he was amazed at the amount of feedback he received after the egg was featured on the front page of last Saturday’s Northern Daily Leader.

“I had a lady (working in the egg industry) who has probably collected a million eggs say she had only ever seen one that size before,” he said.

Mr Powell said his hens had laid no more super-sized eggs in the past week.