Super chicken set to break record

The Black Orpington weighs 14 lbs

The resident of an Essex tourist attraction has something to crow about - he is a contender for a world record title.

The potential record breaker in question is not a sportsman - in fact, he is a chicken, who stands all of 2ft tall in his chicken feet.

Jeremy Goldsmith, of the Stansted Mount Fitchet farm where the giant bird lives, said he weighs 14lbs.

A rare breed called a Black Orpington, the chicken is a year and a half old.

Mr Goldsmith said the normal growing period was two years - so the bird has six months to continue expanding.

The chairman of the Orpington's Club, Mr Will Burdett, who kept the Queen Mother's collection of Orpington's for 25 years, said the average weight for the bird was 12 lbs, but there had been 14 lbs specimens.