Development of the chick is closer to the mammalian type than the lower vertebrates but because ontogeny

recapitulates phylogeny, all vertebrates have essentially the same basic process.

The Yolk: The chicken egg starts as an egg yolk inside a hen. A yolk (called an oocyte at this point) is produced by
the hen's ovary in a process called ovulation.

Fertilization: The yolk is released into the oviduct (a long, spiraling tube in the hen's reproductive system), where it
can be fertilized internally (inside the hen) by a sperm.

The Egg White (albumin): The yolk continues down the oviduct (whether or not it is fertilized) and is covered
with a membrane (called the vitelline membrane), structural fibers, and layers of albumin (the egg white). This part
of the oviduct is called the magnus.

The Chalazae: As the egg goes down through the oviduct, it is continually rotating within the spiraling tube. This
movement twists the structural fibers (called the chalazae), which form rope-like strands that anchor the yolk in the
thick egg white. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk, on opposite ends of the egg.

The Eggshell: The eggshell is deposited around the egg in the lower part of the oviduct of the hen, just before it is
laid. The shell is made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate.

This entire trip through the oviduct takes about one day.

Growth of the Embryo: The fertilized blastodisc (now called the blastoderm) grows and becomes the embryo. As
the embryo grows, its primary food source is the yolk. Waste products (like urea) collect in a sack called the
allantois. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas occurs through the eggshell; the chorion lines the inside
surface of the egg and is connected to the blood vessels of the embryo.

The Incubation Period: The embryo develops inside the egg for 21 days (the incubation period), until a chick
pecks its way out of its eggshell and is hatched.

The egg cell is generally asymmetric, having an "animal pole" (future ectoderm and mesoderm) and a "vegetal
pole" (future endoderm). It is covered with protective envelopes, with different layers. The first envelope - the one
in contact with the membrane of the egg - is made of glycoproteins and is known as the vitelline membrane (zona
pellucida in mammals)

Gametogenesis: the production of gametes, either eggs (ovum) by the female or sperm by the male.

In animals, the cells which will ultimately differentiate into eggs and sperm arise from primordial germ cells set
aside from the potential somatic cells very early in the formation of the embryo.

Gamete: a reproductive cell or sex cell that contains the haploid set of chromosomes.

Polylecithal: contains large amount of yolk

Telolecithal: found in large amount and cytoplasm is found in the form of disc. The yolk is concentrated at one
pole of the egg separate from the developing embryo. The yolk concentrated toward one pole (the vegetal pole)

This type of egg undergoes discoidal meroblastic cleavage, where yolk is not incorporated in the cells during cell
division.

These are megalecithal or polylecithal, discoidal and clidoic: Yolk is present in large amount and cytoplasm is
found in the form of a disc. This disc is known as Germinal disc.

Birds do not have copulatory organs but still they perform internal fertilization

Oogonia are only present at the 14th day of incubation before hatching in the developing female. None develop after
that time. Fully developed eggs are very large

Closely wrapped around the follicle cells and early oocyte is a layer of compact, fibrous connective tissue (may
contain some muscle fibers) known as the theca interna.

The follicle cells are columnar and actively participating in the formation of the egg cytoplasm. This layer is known
as the zona granulosa or stratum granulosum. Between the egg cell membrane and the surrounding follicle cells is
the zona radiata ( in place of the vitelline membrane).

In most animals, the gonads develop symmetrically, but most female birds only develop the left ovary

The start of differentiation into the primary oocytes in the left ovary from stage 34 (8 days of incubation). The first
meiosis starts at stage 39 in the left ovary and stops at the diplotene stage (the fourth stage of the prophase of
meiosis) just after hatching. The number of germ cells peaks at stage 43 (17 days of incubation). Subsequently, the
population of germ cells declines to two-thirds of the highest number at 1 day after hatching. The decline of germ
cells before hatching is due to a high incidence of programmed cell death (apoptosis) of germ cells. In fact, germ
cells in the right ovary of the chicken embryo are also eliminated by apoptosis. Oocytes undergo meiotic arrest
shortly before or after hatching and remain quiescent until sexual maturity when oocyte growth and maturation
takes place. The primary oocyte do not resume the first meiotic division until a few hours before ovulation. The
second meiotic division occurs immediately after the first meiotic division and stops at metaphase until ovulation.
After ovulation, the ovum is captured by the infundibulum of the oviduct where fertilization takes place.

Spermatogonia restart cell division at 10 weeks after hatching and then enter a differentiation pathway. Male germ
cells do not begin substantial levels of proliferation until sexual maturity, when spermatogenesis begins, leading to
the development of mature sperm.