Poultry Judging Practice Test

What term describes the sequence of events in which an egg hatches into a chick?

1. Incubation

2. Hatching

3. Gestation

4. Oviparity

The correct answer is: Incubation

The term that accurately describes the sequence of events in which an egg develops and hatches into a chick is incubation. During incubation, the egg is kept at the right temperature and humidity, allowing the embryo inside to grow and develop over a specific period, which typically lasts around 21 days for chickens. This process involves the chick absorbing the nutrients from the yolk and ultimately breaking free from its shell when it is fully developed. The other options do not accurately capture this process: hatching refers specifically to the moment when the chick emerges from the shell, gestation typically refers to the process of carrying and developing live young in mammals, and oviparity describes the reproductive mode where animals lay eggs. Thus, incubation is the comprehensive term that encompasses the entire development process of the egg from fertilization to the point of hatching.