Chickens

I decided to do my independent study on chickens. I recently had a hen who went broody (wants to hatch out eggs) on 3/30/08. It takes about 21 days for the chick to hatch. One night I candled (shined a light through the egg to examine the contents without breaking the shell) noticed the chick moving around, so I got my camera and recorded it. At the time it was about 7 days old. In the video you’ll see a dark spot appear and disappear. That spot is the chick. I can’t figure out how to add the video so I posted the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqsYWrDrTY8

Today was day 27, and unfortunately the chick didn’t hatch. I figured the chick had died because there has been no noise or movement from inside the shell. So I took and cracked the shell, I noticed it had stopped devolving. By looking at the chick, I estimate it died probably around 1 ½ weeks along. The hen is pretty upset that her egg is gone. She tore the nest apart looking for it. I’d be upset too if I had to sit there 27 days straight!