Eggs

📖 In short

When we hear the word “egg”, we think of the hen's eggs we eat for breakfast. But all birds lay eggs, and so do turtles, crocodiles, snakes, fish, frogs and insects! An egg is a little house where a baby animal grows until it's ready to come out.

🤩 Did you know?

Hens' eggs hatch after 21 days of incubation.
Incubators keep a temperature between 37 and 38 degrees.
The biggest egg today is the ostrich's, and the smallest is the hummingbird's.
A hen's body takes about 24 hours to make one egg.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 What's inside an egg?

A hen's egg has a hard shell that protects it. Under it is the white, which protects the embryo and gives it water, and in the middle is the yellow yolk, the baby's food while it grows.

🔍 Eggs of all shapes and colors

Not all eggs are white! Some are blue, green or speckled with brown dots, to hide among pebbles and grass. Fish and frog eggs are soft with no shell, and they're laid in water.

💡 Warmth matters

A bird's egg needs warmth for the chick inside to grow, so the bird sits on it to keep it warm. On farms, eggs are put in warm machines called incubators.

🎯 Good food

Eggs are one of the most useful foods: they have protein that builds muscles and vitamins that make the body strong. They can be boiled, fried or baked into cakes.