1) Six Interesting facts about chicken reproduction
that you probably didn’t know…
1. The only thing hens need in order to stimulate egglaying is light.
2. A hen hits puberty only 18-24 weeks after hatching
out of an egg herself. It only takes about 26 hours
for a hen to make an egg, and she can start
producing another one 40-60 minutes later.
3. Egg colour is useful because it's is an expression of
the bird's fitness. It also makes them look pretty.
2) How Do Living Eggs Chickens Hatch?!
Chicken eggs hatch 21 days after fertilization; an incubator
keeps the eggs uniformly warm and moist leading up to
hatching.
The right temperature and humidity keeps the embryos
developing normally with proper levels of fluids and gases.
Once they hatch, chicks are then kept in the hatcher for the
first 24 hours to rest and dry.
They are then kept in a brooder for 5-8 weeks until they grow
feathers.
Watch a chick hatching on the link below…
http://video.calacademy.org/details/344
3) Anatomy of a Chicken
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?...
5) How do chickens reproduce?
Roosters will initiate the reproduction process by dancing around a
hen and if necessary, will chase her down. When he has successfully
courted the hen, the mating process begins.
The female chicken lays an egg, and if it has been fertilized by the
male, will produce a baby chick. To mate the male will insert his
sperm from his cloaca into the female cloaca. The male chicken does
not have a penis, so there isn't penetration during mating.
This process if successful will produce a fertilised egg in around 24
hours.
7) The Developing Chick
8) The Strange Case of BeriBeri
Read the following story and answer the questions on the other side
of this sheet. Circle or underline key words in the passage as you
read.
In 1887 a strange nerve disease attacked the people in the Dutch East
Indies. The disease was beriberi. Symptoms of the disease included
weakness and loss of appetite, victims often died of heart failure.
Scientists thought the disease might be caused by bacteria. They
injected chickens with bacteria from the blood of patients with
beriberi. The injected chickens became sick. However, so did a group
of chickens that were not injected with bacteria.
One of the scientists, Dr. Eijkman, noticed something. Before the
experiment, all the chickens had eaten whole-grain rice, but during
the experiment, the chickens were fed polished rice. Dr. Eijkman
researched this interesting case. he found that polished rice lacked
thiamine, a vitamin necessary for good health.
5) How do chickens reproduce?
My Blog…
Roosters will initiate the reproduction process by dancing around a
and if
necessary, will chase her down. When he has successfully courted the hen, the
_________ process begins.
As your Living Eggs chicks are growing and
developing while they are at your school, keep
a daily account of their development. Use
pictures or diagrams, create a story board or a
cartoon!
Use ‘The Life Cycle of a Hen’ on the other side
to help you.
The ________ chicken lays an egg, and if it has been ___________ by the male, will
produce a baby chick. To mate the male will insert his ________ from his cloaca into
the female cloaca. The _______ chicken does not have a penis, so there isn't
penetration during mating.
This process if successful will produce a fertilised egg in around _________.
Day 1 – The eggs have arrived at your
school!
Hen female sperm mating male 24 hours fertilised
Day 2
BROODER
CHICK
CLOACA
COLOUR
DEVELOPMENT
EGG
FEMALE
GROWTH
HATCH
HATCHER
HEN
INCUBATOR
MALE
REPRODUCTION
ROOSTER
Use the
diagram on
the other side
of this sheet
to annotate
the diagram
of the Life
Cycle of a
Hen..
Day 3
Day 4
Label the Developing Chick. Use the information on the
reverse side of this sheet to help you.
Day 5
Day 6
8) The Strange Case of BeriBeri
Read the Story on the other side of this sheet. Answer the questions below in
complete and meaningful sentences.
Day 7
Day 8
Egg-speriments
1.
State the Problem.
2.
What was the hypothesis?
3.
How was the hypothesis tested?
4.
Should the hypothesis be supported or rejected based on the
experiment?
5.
What should be the new hypothesis?
6.
Design an experiment to test the hypothesis.
As you do each experiment write down your observations. Answer the questions
Day 9
1.
The Spinning Egg – What did you observe? Why did one egg spin faster than the
other?
2.
The Floating Egg – Why did the egg float when we added more salt to the water?
What causes things to float in water?
3.
The Egg in the Bottle. – How did the egg get into the bottle? Is there a way to get the
egg out of the bottle without destroying it? Describe a method.
Day 10