The Living Egg Book€¦ · Their feathers are covered in ‘dander’ which makes them appear wet....

A Resource Book from Living Eggs

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The Living

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Chickens are one of the many animals around us that lay eggs.

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Others are special eggs that become chickens.

Some of these eggs we eat. egg4

For a chicken to grow inside the egg the hen must first be mated with the rooster. The eggs she then lays will be fertile.

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This is the female chicken called the hen.

This is the male chicken called the rooster.

Can you notice some differences?

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This is a fertile egg opened just

after the hen has laid it.

It doesn’t look any different to the normal eggs we eat does it?

Chickens don’t start to grow in the egg straight away. The egg needs to be kept warm before the chick will start to develop.

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At the farm the hen would normally lay all her special

fertile eggs in the nest. Then she would sit on them and keep

them warm for 21 days until they hatch.

We have put these fertile eggs in the incubator to keep them warm until they hatch. Lets look at what happens inside the egg over the next 21 days.

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After only 3 days of warmth from either Mother Hen or the Incubator,

our fertile egg begins to change. Our chicken is starting to grow.

Already the heart has started to beat.

After 6 days the beak is starting to form and the legs and wings are too. Those lines are the veins carrying nutrients to the chicken for it to grow.

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At day 9 the feathers are even starting to develop and the chicken is really starting

to take shape.

At day 18 the chicken is almost developed. The head is in the ‘air sac’ at the end of the egg, and it is breathing air just like we do.

Over the next couple of days the chick will absorb the yolk into its body to prepare for the work ahead, when it begins to hatch.

crack1 The shell of the egg is beginning

to crack. The chick is starting to hatch.

This is called ‘pipping.’

It takes quite a few hours for the chicken to hatch. They have to work very hard to break

the shell.

Eventually they do; they are very tired.

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When the chicken hatches

out, it looks very wet and soggy.

Their feathers are covered in

‘dander’ which makes them appear wet.

It doesn’t take long for the dander to fall off and the chick

to become fluffy.

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Chickens only need the egg tooth to help them break out

of the shell.

Once they have hatched the egg tooth falls off.

The chicken uses its ‘egg tooth’ to help break through the shell of the egg. The egg tooth is a hard lump on the end of the beak.

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Once the chicks are fluffy and strong they go into a brooder

box. This box has a light bulb in it to keep the chicks warm.

If the chicks were hatched in the nest, the mother Hen would keep them warm until they grow up.

Life Cycle of a Hen

C Copyright 1999 Living Eggs Pty. Ltd. For use exclusively with Living Eggs Chicken Hatching Programs. No other use is permitted without the express permission of Living Eggs Pty. Ltd.

Hen Female chicken

Rooster Male chicken

Chick Baby chicken

Fertile egg

Egg capable of producing a chick

Yolk Yellow part of the egg, providing nu-trients for the chick

Air Sac Air bubble at the blunt end of the egg

Nest Where the hen sits to keep the eggs warm

Incubator Controls the temperature of the eggs

Pipping First signs of the chick hatching

Hatch Chick emerging from egg

Dander Covering on down of newly-hatched chicks

Feathers Outer covering of chickens

Egg tooth Hard lump on beak to break through the shell

Brooder House to keep chicks warm

The Living Egg Book€¦ · Their feathers are covered in ‘dander’ which makes them appear wet....

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