Regardless of the number of times I have hatched chicks, the process of embryo development fascinates me equally each time. That a chicken egg can evolve from common recipe ingredient into a living, breathing, fluffy-butt in a mere 21 days fits my definition of miraculous.The following photo presentation pairs well-known images from the Purdue Research Institute, depicting embryo development from the inside, with my own photos of candled eggs throughout the 21 chicken egg incubation period. 
I invite you to view any one of my YouTube videos to witness the wonder of hatch day. Baby Chick Hatching in Home Incubator, Singing and Dancing Easter Egger, Hatch Day! Ameraucana Chick Arrives! and Hatching Easter Egger.
Egg candling was done using the Brinsea OvaScope egg candler.
To see day 15 candling video click here
Sources for the narrative information included on these images:
http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/development.html
Kathy Shea Mormino
Affectionately known internationally as The Chicken Chick®, Kathy Shea Mormino shares a fun-loving, informative style to raising backyard chickens. …Read on
shop my SPONSORS
Regardless of the number of times I have hatched chicks, the process of embryo development fascinates me equally each time. That a chicken egg can evolve from common recipe ingredient into a living, breathing, fluffy-butt in a mere 21 days fits my definition of miraculous.The following photo presentation pairs well-known images from the Purdue Research Institute, depicting embryo development from the inside, with my own photos of candled eggs throughout the 21 chicken egg incubation period.
I invite you to view any one of my YouTube videos to witness the wonder of hatch day. Baby Chick Hatching in Home Incubator, Singing and Dancing Easter Egger, Hatch Day! Ameraucana Chick Arrives! and Hatching Easter Egger.
Egg candling was done using the Brinsea OvaScope egg candler.
To see day 15 candling video click here
Sources for the narrative information included on these images:
http://chickscope.beckman.uiuc.edu/resources/egg_to_chick/development.html
I noticed you missed day 14. I was listening to the Chicken Whisperer the other day & his guest, Peter Brown AKA: the Chicken Doctor. Basically they were saying you shouldn't candle because when you take the egg out of the incubator, you interrupt the process. Depending on which system is developing at the time, you could do some serious damage to the developing embryo. While I agree that the less handling, the better, I still feel the need to candle the eggs periodically to know which eggs are developing & which ones are not, or have quit. What I… Read more »
I've never seen anything like that before, cool.
Holy. Cow. :o
Great question, Ann Marie! The answer can be found here: https://the-chicken-chick.com/2013/01/facts-and-myths-about-fertile-eggs.html
I only have one rooster but I'm considering trying to hatch my own chicks. He truly seems like the leader of the pack and does a great job so I wonder, how will this affect his role? Any feedback appreciated! Thank you!