Safari Ltd. Life Cycle of a Chicken

A hen may lay 300 eggs in a year, but only if a rooster is present can the eggs contain hatchlings. Eggs take 21 days to hatch, but a newly hatched chick is up and moving within a day. Within three months, the chick has lost its yellow feathers and replaced them with adult feathers, ready to start the cycle again.

Bright yellow baby chicks are as cute as can be, but in only a few days, they begin losing their feathers and transitioning to adulthood. These figures show the process, right up to the 3-inch-tall adult chicken.