Baby chicks are a great way to get your homeschool kiddos involved in science. They can learn about life cycles, debate the age old question - which came first? The chicken or the egg?
In the incubator. After a hen mates with a rooster, she lays fertilized eggs. In 21 days, these eggs will hatch if they are kept warm by the hen’s body or an incubator. Find out what happens inside the shell while the embryo is growing into a chick. If possible, obtain an incubator and fertilized eggs to see what happens next!
They’re hatching! When the chick is ready to hatch, it pokes a hole in the sac, sticks its head through the shell membrane, and breathes in the air space. You can hear the chicks peeping inside their shells. Baby chickens use "egg teeth" to peck their way out of their shells. When the chicks hatch, they are wet and tired. Soon they dry and turn into balls of fluff!
Here are some other resouces for learning about chickens!
I see the egg emergent reader
Chicken Litte Reader's Theater
We are doing this now at home. We have a broody hen sitting on some eggs and another 15 in the incubator. It is our first time 'growing' the baby chicks and not buying them from the store.
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