How does a chick get oxygen while developing inside the egg?

Answer 1

Like all embryos, a chicken in the egg does not require air to breathe until such time (approximately day 19) when their lungs develop enough to use the small amount they need.

When it is first laid, the egg is full of yolk and albumen. At that time there is no air space as it is not required. The egg shell is porous. Moisture is lost through the shell over time and the moisture is replaced by air.

When we breed chickens on the farm, we keep the small end of the egg up so the air collects above the developing chick. This air will be used by the fully formed chick inside the egg while it "PIPS" its way out of the shell at day 21.

Answer 2

If the egg has been fertilized a small white spot on the yolk of the egg will soon become red with blood as the embryo starts to develop. For a chicken, it takes 21 days from the time the egg is laid to the time the chick hatches.

The growing chick or embryo needs food, water and oxygen, so thin red blood vessels spread out from this small spot over the yolk and then all around the inside of the shell. The yolk provides most of the food for the growing chick, the albumen (white part) provides more protein and water and oxygen passes through the shell and the membranes. During the last few days the chick inside the egg begins to breathe with its lungs for the first time. To do this it needs an air supply inside the egg shell. At the big round end of the egg there is an air space. The chick makes a hole in this air space so that it can now breathe. The chick also peeps or calls to the hen through the shell. The hen then knows that the egg will soon hatch.

To escape from the egg the chick has a special point on its beak called an egg tooth. This egg tooth breaks holes in a circle all around the shell and the chick pushes and flexes it wings separating the broken shell and hatches.

Here is a link to see actual pictures of this process.

Answer 3

The egg shell is actually very porous. As the embryo develops inside the shell it uses up the albumen surrounding the yolk. That space is taken up by air absorbed by the porous shell. By the time the chick embryo has developed lungs, needs air and is ready to emerge from the shell, there is plenty of air available.

Answer 4

Yes, at about day 18 the lungs of the chick are fully developed and the chick begins to use the air in the small end of the egg. This space is made available as the chick grew and used the nutrients provided by the yolk and albumen. Egg shells are actually porous and allow for air to enter the egg shell.

Answer 5

A chick gets oxygen inside the egg through tiny pores in the eggshell. These pores allow for the exchange of gases, with oxygen entering the egg and carbon dioxide being released. The developing chick also receives nutrients and water through the eggshell.

Answer 6

The egg shell is actually porous and allows for the exchange of gases.

Answer 7

Through its nose holes, and on a hot day, through its mouth.

Answer 8

All eggs have an air pocket inside the egg the chicks beak/bill will be slightly inside of the pocket. as the chick developes further the air pockt gets bigger.