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
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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've never used a still air incubator. I have a hatch-along series here that you may find useful: https://the-chicken-chick.com/p/hatching.html
I've never seen such clear pictures of chick development.
Do you recommend one type of incubator over another? Air V still air or brand? I have found that when the first chicks start to hatch they move the un-hatched eggs around and some of them have difficulty hatching. Is this normal? Do you ever "help" the chicks that have difficulty hatching out of the shell? I know these are a lot of questions but I do want the highest rate of live chicks I can get. Thanks for any answers.
This is the first time that i have tried incubating eggs. I made a small homemade incubator out of stuff we had laying around the house. Ive been experimenting with it trying to hatch babys. I candle them and take out the ones that are infertile or seem to stop growing and eggtopsy them. When i eggtopsy them i break the air pocket open first tyring to not toych the internal membrane. If i still dont see any sign of life (which i usuall dont) then i pop the membrane and empty the contents into a container for further investigation… Read more »
I really appreciate the information and the pictures are wonderful. I really feel that I will know what I am looking at. I have 10 hens and 2 roosters so I am going to start incubating!