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Chicken Life Cycle (Learn the 4 Key Stages)

Life cycle of chickens

We all love our feathered friends, but how much do we know about their life? What happens after the egg is fertilized? What developmental stages do they go through? The chicken life cycle is explained here.

How long do they live?

We thought we would take the time to look at the life stages of our lovable chickens and answer some of these questions.

A chickens’ life cycle can be divided into several distinct stages.

Chicken Life Cycle

Stage 1 of Chicken Life Cycle: Egg Development and Hatching


We won’t bore you with the old joke about the chicken and the egg – in our article, the egg comes first!

A hen will lay an egg every 25-27 hours or so, and this cycle goes on every day.

An egg will remain unfertilized unless a rooster has fertilized the hen. A hen can keep the roosters’ sperm viable in tiny pouches in her vagina for up to 3 weeks.

Alternatively, if she doesn’t like the rooster, she can eject his sperm, a neat little trick.

We will assume our hen likes the rooster, and she now will lay a fertile egg.

She will continue to lay fertile eggs, gathering them in her nest until she feels she has enough eggs.

Now she becomes a broody – a hen you don’t want to mess with! She will sit diligently on those eggs for 21 days.

During that time, she will keep them warm, turn them regularly and expel any eggs that are not progressing.

When Day 21 arrives, you will be greeted by lots of peeping from under Mama’s skirt. When they initially hatch, they are ‘wet,’ but they soon dry off and turn into those cute little fuzz balls that we can’t resist.

A short time before hatching, the chick will absorb all the nutrients from the egg into its body to support itself.

The nutrients in the egg’s contents will sustain a chick for about 24-72 hours.

We may not see what’s going on inside that egg, but certain ‘milestones are important (and interesting) to know about.

Chicken Life Cycle

Stage 2 of Chicken Life Cycle: Chick

So now you have several precious balls of fluff; what’s next? If mama is raising them, you need to do very little.

She will attend to their needs and care. They will spend the first days of their life under mama’s wings to keep them warm and safe.

You can provide her with separate quarters from the flock to raise her brood in peace and safety.

You will also need to provide starter crumbs for the chicks.

Water should not be cold or hot, but at room temperature, some electrolytes for the first couple of days will ensure the health of babies and mama.

If you are incubating, you will need to provide warmth, food, water, and safety for them. A special chick starter feed is needed for the high protein content to ensure healthy development.

They will also need clean, freshwater (as chicks are messy, you will likely find yourself changing the water several times a day!)

As the chicks don’t have a mama to lead them, you will need to dip their beaks in the water and food dishes to let them know where they are.

You can also tap the food bowl with your finger, imitating mama’s beak.

Warmth is also essential for them to thrive. The first week they are in the brooder, the temperature of your heat lamp should be at 95F at chick level.

The temperature should be reduced by 5 degrees each week until you reach ambient temperature.

As Chicks Grow

As your chicks get bigger, they will start to sprout their first real feathers. This usually happens during the second week.

Also, in the second week, you can add some chick grit to the brooder and perhaps a small perch for them to practice with.

I also add a clump of short grass or dandelion weeds with dirt attached to get the benefit of greens and the dirt.

Weeks 3 and 4 see them acquiring more feathers and growing rapidly.

By week 5, the temperature in the brooder should be matching the air temperature at 65-70F. You should be able to turn the lamp off since the chicks will now be fully feathered and able to control their own temperatures.

Around this time, you will also see them start to acquire their first ‘adult’ feathers. You will also see them sorting out their pecking order!

If you wish, they can spend some time outside in a suitable pen to protect themselves from predators.

By week 8, they should be able to spend more time outside, and you can start to expand their tastes: mealworms, grains, and greens, scrambled eggs, etc.

At this point, they are now technically pullets and cockerels; they have entered the ‘awkward juvenile’ zone.

Congratulations! You are now Mama or Papa to a gang of unruly teenagers…

Chicken Life Cycle

Stage 3 of Chicken Life Cycle: Pullet (Adolescent)

Adolescent chickens are not the prettiest.

They are skinny, all legs, and look somewhat out of proportion compared to your adult chickens.

In fact, they look much like their ancient relatives, the dinosaurs!

Not to worry – they will soon be sleek and pretty like the adults, but meanwhile, you have to be a referee between the adults and juveniles.

The juveniles can be integrated with the adults when they are roughly 2/3 the size of the adults.

As you doubtless know, the pecking order can be brutal, so keep your eyes open for extreme bullying.

Generally, the youngsters learn to get out of the way quickly. Still, occasionally an adult bird will decide to be an absolute demon to the new arrivals and do everything possible to be obnoxious.

If possible, it is best to leave the juveniles in with the adults, so they only have to endure the pecking order once.

Ideally, the cockerels will be introduced to the flock before they start to grow, especially if you already have a rooster. The boys need to learn their place in the flock; otherwise, you will have persistent fighting between the old and new.

The cockerels will be practicing their crowing every opportunity they get once they have settled their place in the hierarchy, so have your earplugs ready.

Adolescent hens will start to lay eggs around the 18-week mark, but this can vary significantly between different breeds.  Once she has laid her first egg, she is an adult, although some folks call those first eggs ‘pullet eggs’ because they are so much smaller than hen eggs.

The adolescent period of a chickens’ life is mainly spent filling out the frame and learning all they need to know from the other adult hens.

Chicken Life Cycle

Stage 4 of Chicken Life Cycle: Hen (Adult)

 

Now your pullet is a hen – she has laid her first egg, congratulations!

Although there may still be a few minor squabbles here and there, the new and older hens should settle into a routine. Some of your older hens may even take the role of teaching the newcomers.

The boys can become tiresome once the hormones kick in. They may challenge your head rooster at every opportunity they get.

There are a few solutions:

  • Re-home them – easier said than done.
  • Move them to a bachelor pad.
  • Cull them.

As you know, hens molt every year to replace old, worn-out feathers. The new hens will not molt until the following year, so they should keep laying through the winter for you.

The following spring, some of your ‘chicks’ may become broody mamas themselves and give you another generation of adorable chicks.

Most chickens lay well for the first year or two, but they start to slow production around the 72 week mark. Many will still lay for you, but the output will be noticeably less.

As chickens age, like most creatures, they will start to show signs of ‘old age. They will be less energetic and move slower; their legs and feet become thicker and possibly arthritic. Facial features take on an ‘aged’ or ‘tired’ appearance. Egg production may cease altogether, or they may lay the occasional ‘yearly’ egg.

My older girls are done with laying now – I have several that are 8 years old. I can see them spending their days lying in the sun or dust bathing sedately enjoying their retirement.

Depending on the breed, chickens can live from 3-20 years. Admittedly the 20-year veterans are few and far between, but they do exist.

On average, the usual range is between 5-8 years for most hens. Hybrid layers tend to have the shortest span as they are prone to developing reproductive tumors after 2 years.

Hens that are well taken care of and kept safe from predation can live much longer than 8 years, assuming they are not culled because they have ceased to lay eggs.

Summary of Chicken Life Cycle

It is always amazing to me how quickly the chicks grow into egg-laying adults. I love to watch them interacting with the other birds and watching their crazy antics!

This article should have given you an overview of the main cycles of a chickens’ life.

Of course, there are many other little subtleties that we have passed by for the sake of brevity, but if you spend any time just sitting and watching your hens, you will learn much more about them as you peek into their private lives.

We hope you enjoyed learning about the life of a chicken, and perhaps you learned something too! Let us know in the comments section below…

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Lifecycle of a Chicken

27 thoughts on “Chicken Life Cycle (Learn the 4 Key Stages)

  1. I appreciate this great article about chicken development. It will be hard for me when they get old because I am use to my girls running & flying to see me. My wife of 40+ years now calls me “Elvis” because of the way they chase after me, she says they are “my groupie.”
    When my girls get old they will always have their home here with me. I will feel lost when they go but I will try again with 3 more girls. I wanted a Rhode Island Red (Henrietta Cluck) like when I was a child so I bought 3 chicks hoping I could have one survive but they all lived for this city boy. I have always lived in a large city.

  2. This is a delightful article. I can’t wait to show the development video to my granddaughters. Not having grown up with chickens, except raising a few “peeps” at my great-grandmother’s home in West Virginia, almost 60 years ago, I had no idea how addictive they are. I have gone from 5 hybrid chicks to 20 heritage hens and 2 amazing roosters — and I have 6 hatchling girls on order for June! Somebody, stop me! Thank you for the information.

  3. Thanks for the great information. I don’t have any roosters. But I grew up with my mother raising chickens and was wonderful watching baby chicks hatch and grow up. ?❤️?

  4. I agree with Joe, this is a great read! I have learned a lot from this entire site! Raising chickens is new to me this season and I am excited for it!

  5. Hello my husband & I are new to having chickens. We are fosters parents. Are new children are 18 jersey giants hens & 1 rooster. Just want you to know that all of your articles that we’ve read have helped us tremendously. Thank you very much

  6. Thanks for the great article. We are new chicken owners. Very helpful. Our girls are settling in nicely. Being new we knew nothing about de beaked chickens . The ones we bought are de beaked, I feel sad for them. Happy to give them a better place to live tho. Thanks again. Hanna

  7. I have enjoyed your article. Very interesting.This is my first time incubating baby’s. It has been 12 days today. I hope all goes well for my first time. Thanks for sharing.

  8. Fascinating!!! Thank you soooo much for putting this together. I am a city gal now livin’ the country life, and I am a new chickie mama…..mine are 3 weeks old now and I am finding that no matter how much research I do, this is still a “learn as you go ” process…..

  9. Loved this article. I grew up in Suffolk, England with my dad keeping week old chicks in incubator then letting them out in orchard when old enough. Now I am retired and have 3 chickens of my own who follow me everywhere. Thank you for all the super advice.

  10. My fisrt coop is arriving Sat!
    I intend to rescue homeless chickens. I will never buy or breed.
    Your articles r very informative and I need all the help I can get. New country house for rescue.
    Thanks!

  11. Thanks for this great informative article. I referred to it often. My two oldest chicks are 8 yr old silkies. So cute. One laid 2 eggs last summer. One 7 yr old Rhode Island Red still lays almost daily along with my 6 yr old Barbed Rock & Ameraucana. Have 2 4 yr olds in which one lays daily. I love watching all of them running, pecking, sunbathing & dust bathing. I got 6 new chics in April…hence the need for your article. Thank you.

  12. We currently have a hen that is sitting on an egg – we do not have a rooster so the egg will not hatch – I feel bad for her – do we just let her sit on it until she gives up or is there anything else we an do?

  13. I just took delivery of my incubator with a capacity of 1200 chicks, I am a bigginer in this business, your basic induction is very much informative, please tel me a little bit about the 21 days after switching off the incubator, if I have the 1200 eggs in, and I put the first batch to the hatching tray, remove them when they are ready and place the others and on and on until they are alll hatched, is the other eggs not going to be spoiled while waiting their chance to get into the hatching tray as the incubator is off?
    Do my question make sense, please assist.

    1. You are looking into production level hatchery, you would most likely need two incubators or stage with a delay introduction of the second batch.

  14. Chickens are social animals that live in groups called flocks. Each flock is made up of roosters, hens, and chicks. Roosters are male chickens, while hens are female chickens. Chicks are their babies.

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