Claim: A user on Facebook claims China has implanted chicken organs in pigs to make them produce chicken eggs.
The image used to support the claim was extracted from a different context and doctored to suit the bogus narrative. This claim is false.
When a user on Facebook, Uchenna Dike, shared an image of what he claimed to be pigs laying eggs, alongside the heading: “China plants chicken organs in pigs for faster and more eggs production,” the comment section of the post became hilarious.
“Making us to realise; or to understand that some scientific knowledge is purely satanic, i.e. please add chicken-pig egg to my rice,” one user, Cyprian Ajunwo, commented.
However, some doubts raised by other users stirred some questions. “Mammal animals can never lay eggs… I still remember that one very well. It is impossible,” Asiwaju Olajide Toby, contested.
Not entirely surprising, the post garnered over 5000 re-shares and close to over 2000 reactions within just two days of its appearance. Notably, the claimant and the commenters could not point to the actual source of the narrative, as most of the users apparently seem to believe it.
The same narrative made headlines on a Ghana-based news website, Vimbuzz: “China plants chicken organs in other animals for faster egg production,” featuring the same image as the one shared on Facebook.
But still, what is the probability of such a great invention taking place?
No doubt, great scientific and technological inventions have been referenced to the Chinese and in the past also, the world has witnessed great revolutions in different areas, yet, the claim that pigs are genetically modified to lay eggs seems to be a question that requires more answers than the one that already meets the eyes.
Uncovering the Facts
When a Yandex reverse image search was conducted on the alleged image, the results showed the image was taken out of context and manipulated to cast a new and bogus narrative around it.
Originally, the alleged image appeared on a Ukrainian agricultural promotion website. The image was used, along with a post that was promoting ‘common’ individuals to venture into cattle ranching.
Apparently noticeable is that even the alleged pigs, as initially claimed in the image, were actually a group of ranch cows.
This is not the first time the image was used to spread false claims. In 2018, a Ukrainian-based news site, Top news debunked a claim that used the image of the cows to allege that cancer was implanted in cows to boost their growth.
Do mammals lay eggs?
“Pigs or mammals can not lay eggs. The possibility is just not feasible,” Dr Jeremiah Milon, chief veterinarian at Animal first, said.
Also, according to Scientific American, “Only two kinds of egg-laying mammals are left on the planet today—the duck-billed platypus and the echidna, or spiny anteater. These odd “monotremes” once dominated Australia, until their pouch-bearing cousins, the marsupials, invaded the land over 71 million to 54 million years ago and swept them away. New research suggests these two kinds of creatures managed to survive because their ancestors took to the water.”
Conclusion
Pigs can not lay eggs and mammals in general cannot. DUBAWA has uncovered that the image used to spread the alleged narrative was doctored. This claim is false.
This fact-check was produced by DUBAWA in partnership with Code for Africa’s PesaCheck, with support from ICFJ.
those arent pigs