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Climbing out of an egg? It’s not that easy when you are a little chick. Fortunately, they have a small horn-like protuberance, known as an egg tooth, to pierce the shell.
The new-born gets all the energy required to pierce the egg and survive birth from the vitelline membrane, a large food sac in which the embryo can feed during its development. The vitelline membrane is commonly known as egg yolk.
So after having passed the test of getting out of the egg, what happens to the empty shells? They are removed from the nest by the parents and dropped far away to avoid attracting the attention of predators.
The female may also eat some of the shells, absorbing a large amount of calcium which is required for the production of new eggs in future.