Chicken Life Cycle Activities and Crafts

A hen does not need a rooster to lay eggs. However, a hen does need a rooster to fertilize its eggs, otherwise the eggs will not hatch. If the egg is fertilized, the mother hen or a broody hen will care for the egg by keeping it warm until it hatches. While developing, the unhatched chick will eat the yolk in the egg to get the nutrition it needs to grow and develop. Rich in food value and liquid, the yolk provides a newly-hatched chick with all the food and liquid it need for the next three days.

How long does it take for a chicken egg to hatch?

A hen lays an average of 300 eggs per year. When a hen is "broody," it means she wants to hatch her eggs. The hen will sit on her eggs to keep them warm so that they will hatch into chicks. A fertilized egg starts developing into a chicken when its temperature reaches 86 degrees fahrenheit. A chicken takes 21 days to hatch.

Book Suggestion: Where Do Chicks Come From? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

Where do Chicks Come From? - Chicken and Eggs Picture book for children

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Chick Life Cycle Exploration Activity and Toy

Preschool Activities:

Media Root

Learning Resources Chick Life Cycle Exploration Set

See the day-by-day development of a chick by cracking open this set of 21 eggs
Perfect for teaching the life cycle of a chick

Videos

From Egg to Chick Youtube Video

Movie of the development from a chicken egg to a live baby chick
Includes video of candling, hatching process, and information on how to incubate an egg

Hatching Chick Video

Watch this video with your children. Stop the video from time to time to discuss the changes in the shell. The chick hatches around 2:50 (two minutes and thirty seconds) into the video.