1. Life Cycle of a Chick
Written by Mrs. Ploof’s 2nd Grade Class

2. http://www. howtodothings
I am an egg, a chicken egg.

3. I am a tiny red dot and will grow into a chick.

4. It will take 21 days for me to hatch. Right now I’m an embryo.

5. I am a 9 day old embryo. If you look closely at my beak you can see a small white bump. That is my egg tooth. I need it to help me hatch out of my egg.

6. I am being kept safe inside my egg by the albumen
I am being kept safe inside my egg by the albumen. I’m getting all the food I need from the yellow yolk.

7. I am a 15 day old embryo. I have developed my downy feathers
I am a 15 day old embryo. I have developed my downy feathers. When I hatch they will be soaked.

8. It is almost time for me to hatch
It is almost time for me to hatch. My mother (a hen) has been sitting on me keeping me warm. She also has been turning me so I’m warm all over. This is called brooding.

9. I am ready to hatch now. I’m going to use my egg tooth to crack through my shell.

10. It will take me about 5 hours to crack through and shove my way out.

11. I am so exhausted and wet, but super excited to meet my brothers and sisters. Soon my feathers will dry and be fluffy.

12. I am a day old chick. My egg tooth has fallen off
I am a day old chick. My egg tooth has fallen off. I only needed it to help me hatch. Now I don’t have any teeth!

13. I peck and scratch along the ground looking for worms, dirt, bugs or feed. Since I don’t have any teeth, I have to swallow my food whole.

14. As I get older my feathers will change from fluffy to glossy.

15. comb
tail feathers
beak
wattle
wing
I grow a red comb on my head. It will help cool me down. I also grow a small wattle.

16. By the time I’m 5 months old I may soon start to lay eggs and a whole new life cycle will begin.

17. Fun Facts There are more than 50 breeds of chickens.
A female chicken that is less than a year old is called a pullet.
Eggs can be brown, white or greenish-blue.
Eggs that aren’t fertilized are the ones we eat.
Chickens can hear sounds before they hatch.
Chickens can see in color.

18. Egg Layers Rhode Island Red Leghorn Breed

19. New Hampshire Plymouth Rock

20. Wyandotte

21. Glossary albumen-the white of an egg
brooding-when a hen sits on her eggs to keep them warm
comb-the soft, red skin on top of a chicken’s head
downy- soft feathers of a bird
egg tooth-a sharp bump on the end of a newborn chick’s beak
embryo-an animal in its earliest stage of development
wattle-red skin under a chicken’s beak
yolk-the yellow part of an egg that is used for food for the chick inside the egg

22. Sources Chick Life Cycle Elizabeth Bennett
Egg to Chick Camilla de la Bedoyere
A Chick Hatches Joanna Cole and Jerome Wexler
Chickens Hens, Rooster and Chicks Lorijo Metz
Nature’s Children Farm Birds Edward C. Haggerty
Life on a Chicken Farm Judy Wolfman

23. Chick Acrostic
Chicks in eggs are called embryos.
Hatches in 21 days and may take about 5 hours.
Incubator took place of hen.
Cracking shell with its egg tooth.
Kept warm until dry and fluffy.
Soft, fuzzy chicks.

24. About the authors
We are second graders at Courtney Elementary School. We decided to learn
more about the life cycle of a chick after we had an incubator in our classroom.