From Funny Chicken Videos to World Records, Backyard Poultry Have Become Ubiquitous

Reading Time: 5 minutes
From viral videos to mesmerizing memes, backyard poultry has found a place in our hearts. Whether it’s a rooster that greets the girl at the school bus stop daily or the chicken that runs into the boy’s arms, poultry is in the zeitgeist. Can you believe that 2019 marked the 30th year of the World Wide Web? With this invention, the enthusiasm for poultry has been able to spread from funny chicken videos to helpful homesteading blogs. In 2019, a single brown chicken egg with a white background became the most-liked Instagram photo. It currently has close to 54 million likes, beating the last record-holder — Kylie Jenner’s photo of her daughter, which had 18 million.
Today the internet is inundated with poultry. From heartfelt therapy chicken stories to researching the best backyard chickens, the World Wide Web is a powerful source of entertainment and education. Remember the giant chicken that made Twitter freak out a few years ago? Well, that giant Brahma rooster got me thinking about discovering other astonishing poultry throughout the globe. As we enter 2020 and your resolutions begin to formulate, consider breaking your own poultry-related world record.
Egg-stonishing Poultry Related Guinness World Records
Title | Who | What | Where | When | Description |
Heaviest chicken egg | Unknown | 454 gram(s) | United States (Vineland, New Jersey) | 25 February 1956 | The heaviest egg reported to have been laid by a White Leghorn had a double yolk and double shell. |
Heaviest duck egg | Unknown | 227 gram(s) | Ireland (Tuam, County Galway) | November 1999 | This massive egg measured 14 cm (5.5 in) in height with a circumference of 20 cm (8 in). The egg was laid by a White Pekin duck owned by Willie and Kitty Costello, of Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. When cracked, another egg was found to have been perfectly formed inside! |
The highest rate of egg-laying | White Leghorn (No. 2988) | 371 eggs / 364 days | United States | 1979 | White Leghorn (No. 2988) laid 371 in 364 days. This was done through an official test conducted by Prof. Harold V. Biellier ending on 29 August 1979 at the College of Agriculture, University of Missouri, USA. |
The largest collection of chicken-related items | Cecil and Joann Dixon | 6505 total number | United States | 28 June 2006 | Cecil and Joann Dixon’s 40-year collection, as of June 2006, included 6,505 chicken-related items. |
Largest metal sculpture | Gary Greff (USA) | 110 ft (33.5m) tall, 154 ft (46.9m) wide and weighs 157,659 lb (71,512.91 kg). | Regent, North Dakota, USA. | August 2001 | Entitled Geese in Flight, the sculpture resembles Canadian geese flying against a backdrop of sky and prairie and is one of a series of metal sculptures located along the Enchanted Highway between Gladstone and Regent, North Dakota, USA. |
The largest collection of rubber ducks | Charlotte Lee | 5631 total number | United States | 10 April 2011 | Charlotte Lee began collecting rubber ducks in 1996. All her rubber ducks are displayed in glass showcases on the four walls of her dedicated duck room. |
Largest game of duck, duck, goose | Logan-Rogersville School District | 2135 people | United States (Rogersville) | 07 October 2011 | The largest game of duck, duck, goose was organized by the Logan-Rogersville School District at Logan-Rogersville High School in Rogersville, Missouri, USA, on 7 October 2011. The game lasted for 15 minutes, 55 seconds. |
Largest plastic duck race | Great British Duck Race | 205,000 plastic ducks | United Kingdom (Hampton Court) | 06 September 2009 | The race involved 205,000 ducks racing down a 1 km (0.6 miles) stretch of the River Thames, UK. The event was organized to raise money for a range of charities. Each duck cost £2 to enter the race and the owner of the winning duck receiving £10,000. |
Largest rubber chicken toss | Soboba Casino | 1013 people | United States (San Jacinto) | 29 April 2017 | The largest rubber chicken toss was achieved by Soboba Casino (USA), in San Jacinto, California. This is the second Guinness World Records title for Soboba, after their successful attempt at the “most people panning for gold” in 2016. |
Largest serving of fried chicken | Daisendori Co,Ltd | 1,530 kg (3,373 lb 1.12 oz) | Japan (Yonago) | 27 August 2017 | Fried chickens made for the attempt were sold for 200 Japanese yen (around $2) per 500 g (1 lb 1.6 oz) and sold out within an hour. |
The largest serving of grilled chicken | Simplemente Parrilla La Balanza | 6,487.9 kg (14,303.5 lbs) | Uruguay | 27 February 2016 | Proprietor Alberto Sena sponsored the 6,000 Pollos Asados event to raise money for repairs to The Gines Cairo Medina Nursing Home. Over 76 volunteers and grill masters cooked 6,000 whole chickens on 12 27-meter long grills, in countryside Uruguayan style. |
Longest duck call | Mark Hillery, Damen Hillery | 1.43 metre(s) | United States (Danville) | 30 October 2013 | The duck call replicates the call of a mallard hen. |
Longest line of rubber ducks | Cozi | 17,782 total number | United States (Seattle) | 05 June 2011 | The line of rubber ducks measured over 1.6 km (1 mi) long. |
Most chicken nuggets eaten in three minutes | Thomas Welborn | 746 gram(s) | United Kingdom (London) | 18 June 2017 | Thomas Welborn was inspired to attempt this record after seeing a previous successful attempt of it. You could be a world record holder in 2020! |
Oldest duck | Desi Duck | 20 years 3 months and 16 days | United Kingdom (Maidenhead) | 23 July 2002 | The oldest duck was a female mallard called Desi cared for by Ingrid Raphael from Maidenhead, Berkshire. |
Oldest Living Chicken | Muffy | 22 years old | USA (Maryland) | 2011 | The oldest chicken was a Red Quill Muffed American Game called Muffy who at 22 years old as of 2011, was born on 01 January 1989 and belongs to Todd McWilliams from Maryland, USA. |
Cecil and Joann Dixon have a collection of 6,505 chicken-related items, as of June 2006, that they have amassed for 40 years. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records.



Charlotte Lee (USA) has 5,631 different rubber ducks, as of 10 April 2011, which she has been collecting since 1996. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records.


