This is a photo of our homeschool lesson for today. Without our permission, one of our hens decided she wanted to be a mama and fiercely defended the eggs I wanted to gather three weeks ago. Today, here is the result of our waiting, and boy! are they worth it. We have five baby chicks -- 3 yellow (one with a top hat of black), one black (with a top hat of white) and one brown with a black stripe. She is still setting on the final 5 eggs. I had written "Baby" on the eggs that she was hatching, so we could gather any future eggs for ourselves. See the chick's beak?
If you are using this photo to teach your kids about chicks, tell them:
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It takes about 8 hours for the little guy to peck all the way through an egg shell (believe me; we watched it for that long!)
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You cannot help a chick hatch. It has to do this tough job for itself, or the chick will be too weak to live. Cracking the shell gives the chick strength.
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The day before the chick hatches, if you put the egg to your ear, you will hear "pipping." That's the word for the little tap-tap-tap noise that the chick makes as it tries to crack the egg from the inside.
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Its beak has a sharp point that cracks the egg. Within a day, that sharp point falls off the beak.
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When it is first born, it is wet and cannot walk. Soon, within an hour or two after birth, it starts to dry out and can walk.
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For the first few days, the chick doesn't even need water or food, because just before it hatched, it ate the inside of the egg shell, which has high nutritional value.
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Nobody knows how, but the mama hen knows which eggs will hatch and which eggs are "duds." She will stay on the nest long enough to hatch the lot of them, but will leave (or eat) the eggs without a chick inside.
(Originally published on my 2005-2008 Keeping the Home blog)
Peg said...
That is so cool! Can we see the baby chick? I'm Peg from Blessed Beyond Belief - hello!
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Lori Seaborg said...
Peg, Nice to meet you! You can see the beak in this photo. I'll see if I have a photo of him after he hatched. We kept taking the egg out from under the Mama ... we couldn't stand the wait! It took him over 8 hours to pop out completely. I'm off to look at your site!
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Debra said...
Hi Lori--thanks for visiting my blog today! I love hearing from new people and I hope you will visit again soon. I am enjoying your blog--I have a great email friend who I believe lives down your way--have you heard of the town of Live Oak? She, too, spends most months of the year outside in her garden and the rest of her acreage. Anyway, thanks for you comment at my blog--I'll return to your blog soon! God bless, Debra
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Lori Seaborg said...
Debra, Nice to meet you! I'm not sure of Live Oak - don't know it. I loved visiting your blog today.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Renee said...
That is SO neat!! I wanna see the chick too!!:-) Great blog you have going!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Lori Seaborg said...
Renee- I'll look for another photo of the baby. He's not so cute now. He's in his adolescent phase, you know how that goes!
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Posted by: Comments from 2005 | 10/14/2009 at 10:46 PM
I like the word 'baby' written on the egg :o)
Perhaps my little Katie will be the first one to get to hatch chick in our family.
My sister Cindy had daycare in her home for years ....and every year she hatched chicks! Isn't that great!
It seems like a ton of work for this city girl.
Donna
Have fun with your yellow balls of fluff :o)
(commented on 6/8/2005)
Posted by: donnabooshay | 10/13/2009 at 06:28 PM