Chicken Life Cycle

Chicken Life Cycle

"The Egg" by Jack Prelutsky
If you listen very carefully, you'll hear the chicken hatching. At first there scarcely was a sound, but now a steady scratching. And now the egg begins to crack the scratching starts to quicken, As anxiously we all await the exit of the chicken. And now a head emerges from the darkness of the egg, And now a bit of fluff appears, and now a tiny leg, And now the chicken's out at last, he's shaking himself loose, But, wait a minute that's no chicken... Goodness, it's a goose.
What is a bird?
A bird is the only animal that has feathers.  Also, all birds have bills, have wings, and lay eggs.
What are the stages of the chicken's life cycle?
Eggs:  A hen lays eggs in a nest. Some eggs have an embryo inside.  An embryo will grow into a chick in 21 days.  The mother hen must keep the egg warm.  The egg's hard shell protects it while it grows.  The baby bird will use an egg tooth on it's beak to hatch out of the egg.  This can take a full day!
Chick:  The chick is wet when it hatches from its egg.  It has feathers called down.  The down will dry fast.  Also, chicks can walk right away.  They like to eat seeds, bugs, and worms.  Chicks grow more feathers in about 4 weeks. A comb grows on the chick's head and a wattle grows under the chick's beak.  Chicks resemble their parents from the time they hatch and as they grow.
Chicken:  Chicks are fully grown into chickens in six months.  Female chicks grow up to be hens.  Male chicks grow up to be roosters.  The hens will lay more eggs.
Click the thumbnail below to see a picture of the chicken life cycle.

The Life Cycle of a Salmon

The life cycle of all salmon follows a series of stages as it develops from an egg to an adult fish. Each species of salmon has its own 'rules' that determine the length of time each stage has and also when these fish return to the rivers to spawn. Therefore each of the pacific salmon species are unique. The information illustrated below shows the stages each salmon goes through.

Eggs During spawning, eggs are deposited by the female in redds (a gravel depression scoured out by the adults with their tails). Milt (sperm) is then deposited from the male salmon to fertilize the eggs and begin a whole new generation. Depending on water temperature eggs will take between 6 to 12 weeks to hatch. The tiny black spots you can see in the photo are the eyes developing. These are what we would call eyed eggs.

Alevin Alevin are newly hatched fish. They derive their nourishment from the yolk sac of the egg from which they were born. Nourishment is provided by the yolk sac for several weeks. They stay down in the river gravel until the sac is absorbed. Once the sac has been absorbed the 'fry' begin to emerge from the gravel and swim freely looking for food for the first time.

Fry Once an alevin's egg sac is absorbed, the fish has to find food for itself. This stage is called the fry stage. The fry will swim about feeding on tiny invertebrates and on the carcasses of the spawned out adults. Fry instinctively hide, deal with river currents, learn to school together and many other survival skills.

Smolt Fry live in fresh water anywhere from just a few days to two years depending on the species. Smolting is a physiological change which when completed enables the fish to live in salt water and not absorb the salt into its blood stream. Once a fish turns into a smolt it is ready to begin its migration down the river and into the ocean where it will spend the next phase of its life.

Ocean Life During their ocean phase Pacific Salmon are widely distributed over the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Most will have extensive migrations from one to five years (depending on the species). This is where the salmon do most of their growing and gain weight quickly. The Ocean phase is the phase which we know the least about and it seems that the early part of the ocean phase is very important for overall fish survival.

Spawning When the adult fish have finished growing in the ocean they then seek out the rivers in which they were born to spawn. The fish undergo physical changes from bright silver to much darker and sometimes boldly coloured mature adults. The energy the fish gained in the ocean is put solely into the production of eggs (females) and milt (males). The mature adults pair up and start the process all over again of making a redd and laying eggs. This is where the cycle ends for one but and begins for another. The Seymour River has several viewing opportunities for salmon such as Coho, Pinks, Chinook and Chum. Visit the hatchery during spawning season - updates will be put on the Home page as we start to see fish spawning in the Seymour River.

Life cycle summary

Life Cycle of Bees

This is the life cycle page. A bee is like a butterfly because it goes though several stages in its life. Keep reading to find out about a bee's life.

 

Egg
A queen lays soft white eggs in the comb. The egg stage takes place during days 1 through 3.

 

Larva
In three days, the egg hatches into a larva. Workers feed it bee milk and bee bread. It spins a cocoon around itself. The larva stage takes place during days 4 through 9.

 

Pupa
In the cocoon, the larva turns into a pupa. It now has eyes, wings, and legs. It looks more like a bee. This stage is during days 10 through 23, depending on the type of bee it will become.

 

Adult
This is the final stage in a bee's complete metamorphosis. It is full grown. The bee chews its way out of the cell. It becomes an adult on days 16 through 24, depending on what type of bee it is.

Butterfly Life Cycle

The butterfly and moth develop through a process called metamorphosis. This is a Greek word that means transformation or change in shape.

Insects have two common types of metamorphosis. Grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies, and cockroaches have incomplete metamorphosis. The young (called a nymph) usually look like small adults but without the wings.

Butterflies, moths, beetles, flies and bees have complete metamorphosis. The young (called a larva instead of a nymph) is very different from the adults. It also usually eats different types of food.

There are four stages in the metamorphosis of butterflies and moths: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Egg

Eggs are laid on plants by the adult female butterfly. These plants will then become the food for the hatching caterpillars.

Eggs can be laid from spring, summer or fall. This depends on the species of butterfly. Females lay a lot of eggs at once so that at least some of them survive.

Butterfly eggs can be very small.

Caterpillar: The Feeding Stage

The next stage is the larva. This is also called a caterpillar if the insect is a butterfly or a moth.

The job of the caterpillar is to eat and eat and eat. As the caterpillar grows it splits its skin and sheds it about 4 or 5 times. Food eaten at this time is stored and used later as an adult.

Caterpillars can grow 100 times their size during this stage. For example, a monarch butterfly egg is the size of a pinhead and the caterpillar that hatches from this tiny egg isn't much bigger. But it will grow up to 2 inches long in several weeks.

Pupa: The Transition Stage

When the caterpillar is full grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa. The pupa of butterflies is also called a chrysalis.

Depending on the species, the pupa may suspended under a branch, hidden in leaves or buried underground. The pupa of many moths is protected inside a coccoon of silk.

This stage can last from a few weeks, a month or even longer. Some species have a pupal stage that lasts for two years.

It may look like nothing is going on but big changes are happening inside. Special cells that were present in the larva are now growing rapidly. They will become the legs, wings, eyes and other parts of the adult butterfly. Many of the original larva cells will provide energy for these growing adult cells.

Adult: The Reproductive Stage

The adult stage is what most people think of when they think of butterflies. They look very different from the larva. The caterpillar has a few tiny eyes, stubby legs and very short antennae. The adults have long legs, long antennae, and compound eyes. They can also fly by using their large and colorful wings. The one thing they can't do is grow.

The caterpillar's job was to eat. The adult's job is to mate and lay eggs. Some species of adult butterflies get energy by feeding on nectar from flowers but many species don't feed at all.

Flying comes in handy. The adult female can easily fly from place to place to find the right plant for its eggs. This is important because caterpillars can't travel far.

Most adult butterflies live only one or two weeks, but some species hibernate during the winter and may live several months.

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is America’s oldest natural history museum and a world leader in biodiversity and environmental research. For 200 years, the Academy has explored the remarkable diversity of our natural world, sharing these discoveries with the public through extraordinary collections, innovative exhibits, educational programming, and publications.

life cycle of frog

The Egg

Frogs lay their eggs in water or wet places.  A floating clump of eggs is called frog spawn.    

The large and slippery mass of eggs are too big to be eaten.  This is nature's way of protecting them.  But, the smaller clumps of eggs will be eaten by the creatures living near or in the pond.

The egg begins as a single cell. Several thousand  are sometimes laid at once. It becomes surrounded by a jellylike covering, which protects the egg. The female may or may not stay with the eggs to take care of the young after she has laid them. The egg slowly develops. But, only a few develop into adults.  Ducks, fish, insects, and other water creatures eat the eggs.

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The Cell Splits

The single cell in the egg eventually splits into two. These two split making four cells, and so on. Eventually, there are many cells in the egg.

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The Embryo

The mass of cells in the egg come to form an embryo. Organs and gills begin to form, and in the meantime, the embryo lives off of its internal yolk. This supplies it with nutrients for 21 days. Then . . .

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The Tadpole

After its 21 day development period, the embryo leaves its jelly shell, and attaches itself to a weed in the water. This quickly becomes a tadpole, a baby frog.   The tadpoles grow until they are big enough to break free into the water.  This can take from 3 days to 3 weeks, depending on what kind of frog they will become.  They eat very small plants that stick to larger plants in the water.  These tiny plants are called algae. The tadpole has a long tail, and lives in the water. It is extremely vulnerable, and must rely on its camouflage to protect it. 

The tadpole has a long tail, and lives in the water. It is extremely vulnerable, and must rely on its camouflage to protect it.  The tadpoles also face danger by being eaten by other water animals.  Sometimes the pond dries up. As a result the tadpoles die.

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The Tadpole Begins To Change

After about five weeks, the tadpole begins to change. It starts to grow hind legs, which are soon followed with forelegs.   Behind their heads bulges appear where their front legs are growing. Their tails become smaller.  Lungs begin to develop, preparing the frog for its life on land.   Now and then, they wiggle to the surface to breathe in air.  The tail becomes larger and makes it now possible for the tadpole to swim around and catch food.  They eat plants and decaying animal matter.  Some tadpoles eat frogs eggs and other tadpoles.

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Almost There . . .

Over time, the tadpole becomes even more froglike.  They have shed their skin and lips. Its mouth widens, and it loses its horny jaws. The tail becomes much smaller, and the legs grow. The lungs are almost functioning at this point.

 

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The Frog

Eleven weeks after the egg was laid, a fully developed frog with lungs, legs, and no tail emerges from the water. This frog will live mostly on land, with occasional swims. The tiny frogs begin to eat insects and worms.  Eventually, it will find a mate. The way this is done varies depending on the species. The female lays the eggs, the male fertilizes them, and the whole process begins again.