Table of Contents

Before the Laying of the Egg

Fertilization, division and growth of living cells.

First Day of Incubation

16th hour..................First sign of resemblence of and embryo

18th hour..................Appearance of alimentary tract

20th hour..................Appearance of vertebral column

21st hour..................Begin formation of nervous system

22nd hour..................Begin formation of head

23rd hour..................Appearance of blood islands-vitelline circulation

24th hour..................Begin formation of the eye

Second Day of Incubation

25th hour..................Begin formation of heart

35th hour..................Begin formation of ears

42nd hour..................Heart begins to beat

Third Day of Incubation

50th hour..................Begin formation of amnion

60th hour..................Begin formation of nose

62nd hour..................Begin formation of legs

64th hour..................Begin formation of wings

70th hour..................Begin formation of allantois

Fourth Day of Incubation

Begin formation of tongue

Fifth Day of Incubation

Formation of reproductive organs and the differantation of sex

Sixth Day of Incubation

Begin formation of beak and egg-tooth (used to hatch)

Eighth Day of Incubation

Begin formation of feathers

Tenth Day of Incubation

Begin hardening of beak

Thirteenth Day of Incubation

Appearance of scales and claws

Fourteenth Day of Incubation

Embryo turns it's head toward the blunt (bottom) of egg

Sixteenth Day of Incubation

Scales, clawes and beak are becoming firm and horny

Seventeenth Day of Incubation

Beak turns toward air cell

Nineteenth Day of Incubation

Yolk sac begins to enter body activity

Twentieth Day of Incubation

Yolk sac completely drawn into body cavity, embryo occupies practically all of the space within the egg, except the air cell

Twenty-First Day of Incubation

Hatching of the Chick

The Weight of the Egg

Day 1......0.0002 grams

Day 2......0.003 grams

Day 3......0.02 grams

Day 4......0.05 grams

Day 5......0.13 grams

Day 6......0.29 grams

Day 7......0.57 grams

Day 8.....1.15 grams

Day 9.....1.53 grams

Day 10....2.26 grams

Day 11....3.68 grams

Day 12....5.07 grams

Day 13....7.37 grams

Day 14....9.74 grams

Day 15....12.0 grams

Day 16....15.98 grams

Day 17....18.59 grams

Day 18....21.83 grams

Day 19....25.62 grams

Day 20....30.21 grams

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Chick Hatching Movie

To view the baby chick hatching video, simply download this file: chick_hatching.zip. The file is 267 KB and takes less than five minutes to download on a 14.4 bps modem. The movie has a wet slobbery little chick hatching from an egg and lasts from 10-20 seconds. Enjoy!! If you have Microsoft Encarta '95, you may have already seen this.

Chicken Links

Donald Firshing's Chicken Page

The University of Georgia Poultry Science Department
Feathersite's Baby Chick Breed Photos

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