OSU offers livestream video of chicken eggs hatching

(MARCH 29, 2021) For the eighth year, the world can watch chicken eggs hatch via the Oregon State University Extension Service livestream. (A livestream is an internet video of something as it happens in real time.) The livestream shows the chicks as they hatch. The cameras will remain on until 5 p.m. April 2. The expected hatch date is March 29 or 30.

The Oregon State University office in Clatsop County set up cameras to bring the livestream to the public. Once the chicks hatch, they move from the incubator (a machine that keeps the eggs warm) to a brooding pen (a place for young chicks). They remain there until they are able to regulate their body temperature.

The camera will rotate between the incubator and brooding pen until the chicks are ready to move into an outdoor environment. Once they’re big enough, the chickens go home with agricultural students who care for them and show them at the county and state fairs.

“The chicks are well taken care of,” said Jared Delay. “After the chicks get big enough, they’ll be re-homed so that local ... youth continue learning about raising chickens, egg production, and showmanship.”

Since the annual livestream launched in 2014, more than 80,000 people from around the world have watched chicks hatching on the OSU website.