r/chickens

On May 19, 2026, Colossal Biosciences announced that it successfully hatched 26 healthy chicks using a fully artificial 3D-printed egg system.

The company, known for its dire wolf de-extinction project, developed artificial eggs using ultra-thin silicon membranes, titanium shells with microscopic pores, and carefully controlled incubators designed to mimic natural egg development.

Scientists transferred 3-day-old chicken embryos from real eggs into the artificial shells, where the chicks completed the remaining 18 days of incubation before hatching successfully.

Unlike fully synthetic embryos, the process still starts with fertilized chicken eggs. The breakthrough comes from replacing the natural eggshell with a 3D-printed artificial shell that can support full embryo development.

The artificial eggs use a honeycomb-like lattice structure combined with a silicone-based semipermeable membrane that allows oxygen in and carbon dioxide out, similar to a real eggshell.

According to the company, all 26 chicks hatched healthy and are now living at its facility.

Researchers believe this technology could one day help bring back extinct birds like the dodo and New Zealand’s giant moa.

Although similar artificial eggshell experiments have been done before, Colossal Biosciences says its system is the first fully artificial and scalable method that can support a bird’s full development without a natural eggshell.

I love that you can see his whole thought process

Don't worry! Getting an aditional, much larger fenced-in enclosure which it will go into next month.

Due to the predatory bird population on the island I live on I need their enclosure to be, well, fully enclosed, and getting those is pretty pricey. The birds that are gonna live in this coop are yet to hatch, so there's really no rush yet, as they are staying in their indoor pen for a while first.

I ordered this coop when the first hatching attempt was near its end(it was a failiure due to multiple factors) But we just put 3 very healthy-looking eggs into lockdown yesterday.

I'm keeping 2, and the 3rd will go back to the little local farm where we got the eggs from(when its old enough, ofc

Later on, i hope to get a rooster or hen from a different gene pool.

Built this at like midnight, because it's that wierd time of year here, where the sun doesn't go down for like 2 months, and my brain is confused, Lol.

By built, I mean that I put all the pieces together with screws and such. I am absolutely no carpenter.

They do everything together—nap, gossip, and plot their next garden heist. Honestly, finding a friendship this pure is rare. 🌸✨

May we all find someone who looks at us the way these two look at a fresh bag of treats. 😂 Happy Thursday from my backyard to yours! 🏠☀️

Hello! This rooster wandered onto our property this morning, about 6 hours ago. He isn’t moving much. He has made his way down the driveway a bit but he doesn’t seem to be eating. We haven’t been able to find his owners. Not sure if he has been abandoned and/or if he is sick, and not sure what to do. Any advice on who to call or any other tips would be appreciated! We are in SW Pennsylvania.

He collapsed at Feb/27/2025 Due the Doves. :(

This is Maggot Mary (we just call her Mary).

I recently acquired a dozen chickens, who came with my new house.

The entire flock was skittish for the first two days, so I didn’t notice her scrunched in the back. By the end of the week though, the ladies were crowding around me, fighting for toast scraps and berries. Except Mary. She was lethargic and slow, and didn’t bother to eat anything I offered her.

So I grabbed her, stuck her into a stall, and checked her over. I won’t get TMI here, but she was pretty far into flystrike. There were more than a few maggots in an open wound on her vent. I’d had chickens all my life and never dealt with this. So the iodine dumping began. She got a saline bath every few hours, and I swallowed any gag reflex and cleaned her up.

It’s been about a week since the wounds healed, and I excited to say that I think she’s on the mend, or at least well enough to break into my planter boxes! Old Reddit threads were invaluable in her treatment, so thank you very much r/chickens.

I've lost eight in three days now. What is going on?

Hello, has anyone ever seen a balloon-like bubble on their rooster's wattle? I made a small incision 2 days ago to see if it was an abscess. Poor Beryl has always been the lowest rooster in the pecking order and occasionally gets scraped up. When I made the small incision, it deflated like a balloon and a tiny bit of blood came out but not much. It feels like a balloon as well. No hard lump or anything. I cleansed it with iodine and wanted to see what would happen. It has puffed back up again.

I am pretty certain it is not fowl pox. I have dealt with pox before and this is not it. He has a few scabs on his comb from fights but does not have any pox in his throat or anywhere else. He is eating and drinking normally.

My thoughts were abscess or tumor. As far as the abscess goes, no pus came out. I did not make a huge incision though as I didn't know what I was dealing with yet. Tumor wise, I suppose it could be inflamed if there is a growth in there but it deflated pretty well when it was punctured.

Any thoughts?

#chicks, #380coop

My baby waffle passed away yesterday. We arent sure what happened since there was no blood or injuries and no weird behavior or sickness. Waffle was the reason I started connecting with chickens and the reason why I started loving them so much. Im going to miss the feeling of him on my shoulders and pecking my hair. He was the sweetest boy and very shy with others besides me. I hope theres many bugs to peck on the other side of the rainbow bridge ❤️🥹

Hey all, new chicken owner here and trying to determine if this is a rooster or a hen. Can’t have roosters in our area, so trying to find out quick. Thanks in advance!

I have a hen (not momma) that started attacking a two week old chick this morning. They’ve been peacefully coexisting until now. Momma is kind of protecting but I’m afraid the hen is going to kill the chick. Any advice?

I tried to separate mom and baby but mom got really stressed to be separated from the flock.

Our heat lamp fell and her tail got caught, should she be ok?

So cute and mighty😆

Please excuse the molting we are about to move the chicks to their big run and coop.

I believe this one is our rooster, it developed its bright crop thingy (new to chickens) first. Compared to the other two of the same variety.

We got four of those unsexed, so I have to imagine compared to alllll our hens which look relatively the same despite being a different sexed breed that this.

This small little one is our rooster?

What do you experienced chicken owners think.