This week on the Super Smart Farm Show, we're talking about eggs. More specifically, we're talking about what happens inside of eggs before chicks are ready to hatch.

What's going on inside an unhatched egg? What does it take to make a chick? Once they're formed, are chicks inside of eggs aware of the outside world? And how do they know it's time to hatch?

Join host Elmer and Henrietta the chicken as they discuss how chicks hatch from eggs.

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In depth summary:

In this episode of the Super Smart Farm Show, host Elmer takes young "egg explorers" inside a chicken farm to learn how chicks hatch from eggs and the science of egg incubation.

With help from Henrietta the hen, listeners discover that chicks typically hatch after 21 days of incubation, during which eggs must be kept at 99–101°F with about 50% humidity to support healthy development.

The show explains key stages of embryo growth inside a chicken egg, including organ formation during days 1–7, rapid growth during days 8–14, and final development leading up to hatching.

Elmer also learns why farmers turn eggs during the first 18 days to prevent chicks from sticking to the shell and how humidity increases to about 70% before hatching.

The episode concludes with the moment chicks break through the shell using their beaks and are moved to a brooder with heat lamps (90–95°F), while also clarifying that grocery store eggs cannot hatch because they are not fertilized.