FRYEBURG – The age-old chicken and egg question has finally been answered at Fryeburg Fair.

All those who sided with the chicken can applaud. The results of a weeklong opinion poll conducted at the fair’s highly popular Poultry Barn gave the advantage to the chicken, 2,580 to 2,457. Visitors were asked to mark paper ballots as they passed through the barn, which features a new addition.

“I’ve known that all along,” said a smiling David Gould, commercial midway superintendent, when he heard the results.

Not so, says Finance Committee member Ted Raymond. “The theory of evolution says that you have to believe the egg came first,” Raymond said.

Ditto, says Roy Andrews, president of Fryeburg Fair, who tells people he can prove it. He pointed to the fertile eggs in the incubator and the hatching chicks.

“See? First comes the egg and then the chick crawls out,” Andrews confirmed.

After some good-natured exchanges, the officials suggested that the opinion poll might be repeated next year.

“I’ll probably ponder this all winter,” quipped a grinning Gould.