# Could you swallow a hen's egg whole and poo it out still in one piece?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 13, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953 "2003-08-13T17:22:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/1 "2003-08-13T17:22:00Z")
?
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/2 "2003-08-13T17:59:17Z")
Wouldn’t you choke to death before swallowing a hen’s egg whole? They’re awfully big around.
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/3 "2003-08-13T18:10:58Z")
It’s questions like this that keep me coming back to the SDMB!🆒
I think you’d have trouble not breaking the egg swallowing or shitting, not to mention how the heck it’s gonna get through the intestines without using a snake.
This got me to thinking about the old science experiment we did in grade school where you put an egg in a jar of vinegar overnight. It softens the shell, but the egg stays intact. I’m thinking that stomach acid would have a corrosive effect on the shell, though I’m not sure if the inner lining would hold or not.
Why don’t you give it try and let us know how it went?😃
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### Author:  [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/4 "2003-08-13T18:22:47Z")
[QUOTE]
\*Originally posted by An Arky \*
\*\*It’s questions like this that keep me coming back to the SDMB!🆒
It’s questions like this that make me wonder _WHY_ I come back to SDMB!
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### Author:  [@braintree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braintree)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/5 "2003-08-13T18:28:25Z")
How about a Faberge egg?
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### Author:  [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/6 "2003-08-13T18:39:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by braintree \*
> \*\*How about a Faberge egg? \*\*
If you could pass it out the bum…nice way to take home a souvenir from the Faberge show!
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### Author:  [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/7 "2003-08-13T18:49:42Z")
Look, let’s get our terminology right.
“Poo” is a noun. There is no verb form of the word.
“Poop” on the other hand can be a noun or a verb.
So, your question should be: “Could you swallow a hen’s egg whole and **poop** it out still in one piece?”
My work is done here. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/8 "2003-08-13T18:50:25Z")
What about a Cadbury egg? Pastel easter egg? Silly Putty egg? What about [L’eggs](http://www.leggs.com/)? An advertising flyer from Egghead Software?
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/9 "2003-08-13T18:50:33Z")
I’m thinking no. If you swallowed it and it stayed intact, you’d probably need surgery to get it out.
This opinion is only based on visiting a golden retriever that had swallowed a golf ball-sized rock. The rock only got so far before causing a…er… log jam.
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### Author:  [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/10 "2003-08-13T19:10:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by stuyguy \*
> \*\*Look, let’s get our terminology right.
>
> “Poo” is a noun. There is no verb form of the word.
>
> “Poop” on the other hand can be a noun or a verb.
>
> So, your question should be: “Could you swallow a hen’s egg whole and **poop** it out still in one piece?”
>
> My work is done here. Thank you. \*\*
No, I think you’ll find in UK poop refers to a fart, and poo can be a noun or a verb. Am I right, fellow Brits? ;j
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/11 "2003-08-13T19:11:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by An Arky \*
> It’s questions like this that keep me coming back to the SDMB!🆒
I agree. This is one of the funniest OPs in awhile.
Here’s the deal. Start with a himmingbird’s egg and work your way up to ostrich. Somewhere along the line it probably won’t work.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/12 "2003-08-13T19:20:56Z")
Well, let’s stop giggling and answer the OP.
No.
It doesn’t take much to dissolve the calcium shell. Leave an egg in a glass of vinegar for a wee bit, and you’ll soon have a shell-less egg. Stomach acid would tear through the shell much quicker, and, unlike vinegar, wouldn’t stop there.
And “poo” is too a verb.
(Dear god, has it really come to this?)
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/13 "2003-08-13T19:25:13Z")
Sorry, **An Arky** , I don’t know how I missed your post above. Must’ve been obscured by the tee-hees.
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### Author:  [@CrazyMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyMonkey)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/14 "2003-08-13T19:39:31Z")
Would you want to?
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/15 "2003-08-13T19:45:40Z")
Aside from the stomach acid, the intestines use constriction to move things along. So that would cause problems as well.
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/16 "2003-08-13T19:47:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by The Griffin \*
> \*\*No, I think you’ll find in UK poop refers to a fart, and poo can be a noun or a verb. Am I right, fellow Brits? ;j \*\*
I thought a “poo **t** ” was the UK equivalent to “fart” and – why the hell am I participating in this thread in all seriouness??
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### Author:  [@flapcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flapcats)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/17 "2003-08-13T19:56:28Z")
‘Parp’ would do for fart.
‘Poot’ I’ve not heard for a decade or so but I suppose would still stand.
The egg, if you managed to swallow it whole would not get out of the stomach whole. Stomach acids and bile fluids are strong enough to eventually weaken the shell and break it. It would then get broken down and then absorbed / expelled in the usual manner.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/18 "2003-08-13T20:04:35Z")
Snakes can dislocate their jaws to swallow eggs whole, can’t they. I know the eggs get somewhat crushed inside the snake, otherwise there wouldn’t be much point to swallowing it, but does anyone know to what extent the shell stays intact until the snake excretes it?
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/19 "2003-08-13T20:36:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \*
> \*\*Wouldn’t you choke to death before swallowing a hen’s egg whole? They’re awfully big around. \*\*
Yes, I probably would, but my BF is used to that circumference.
And that goes for the other end too, thank you.
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-swallow-a-hens-egg-whole-and-poo-it-out-still-in-one-piece/194953/20 "2003-08-13T20:43:33Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by cher3 \*
> Snakes can dislocate their jaws to swallow eggs whole, can’t they. I know the eggs get somewhat crushed inside the snake, otherwise there wouldn’t be much point to swallowing it, but does anyone know to what extent the shell stays intact until the snake excretes it?
A number of snakes eat eggs and the Egg-Eating Snakes in the genus _Dasypeltis_ specialize in them. Some pics:
[http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombic3.jpg](http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombic3.jpg)
[http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombiceating.jpg](http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombiceating.jpg)
[http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombiceating2.jpg](http://home.neo.rr.com/edzoo/Egg%20Eater%20Pics/rhombiceating2.jpg)
Snakes in _Dasypeltis_ swallow the egg just partway down the gullet ( as in the pictures above ), then by moving the head up and down, use projections on their vertebrae to saw through the shell. Once they puncture it, they suck out the fluids/embryo, and if it is a large egg, regurgitate the deflated mass of shell ( to save the effort of disintegrating such a large, non-nutricious mass ). However if the egg is small, they and other snakes that eat eggs will sometimes just swallow them all they way down. It’s really not a problem - Snake stomach acids are incredibly powerful. Just like the bones of other prey items, the egg-shell will be completely dissolved.
- Tamerlane
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