The embryo becomes a chick when it breaks into the air cell and takes its first breath.
After the chick breaks through the inner shell membrane it starts to break through the shell (20th day)
The chick continues to break the shell around the largest point of the egg shell
Chick almost ready to escape from the shell
Chick uses its legs and neck to push itself free from the shell
Shortly after the chick hatches its down well dry and fluff up (the length of time it take the down to dry will depend on the humidity in the chicks environment). The Chick can be removed from the incubator when they are still wet if they are placed in a brooding area at 92 - 95 degrees F
The egg tooth is only present to help the chick break from the egg. Within 12 to 24 hours after the chick hatches the egg tooth will dry and fall off.
If the chicks come from a strain that has the sex-linked genes for feathering rate (very common in commercial strains), you will be able to sex the chicks as you remove them from the incubator. As you can see in the photo of the chick wings above, the male has shorter primary plumes (primary Plumes and covert plumes are the same length). The female on the other hand has primary plumes that are twice as long as the covert plumes. Male carries the slow feathering gene and the female the fast feathering gene.