Kelsey Creek Farm

06/13/2026

Chicks

Hatching

Do you think chicks come out of their egg all fluffy and dry? If you guessed no, you’re right! Chicks are wet and definitely not fluffy when they hatch, but they dry off quickly and become fluffy and adorable!

How does a chick get out of its egg? On the eighteenth and nineteenth day of incubation, the chick absorbs the yolk into its abdomen. On the twentieth day, the chick pecks a small hole in the egg and begins to breathe air. On the twenty-first day, the chick pecks a bigger hole and then pushes the shell apart with its feet. It takes a few hours for a chick to complete hatching.

06/12/2026

What TV show do goats enjoy watching with their families?
America’s Goat Talent

06/11/2026

We still have a few spots in our Go Go with Van Gogh Day Camp July 6-10. Camp hours are 9:30am-3pm and extended care is available from 7:30am-5:30pm. Paint, sculpt, make collages, explore with pastels, and learn the basics of color theory while having fun on the farm.

Register.BellevueWA.gov.

06/06/2026

Chicks

Chicks developing in eggs

Hens usually lay clutches of 8 to 12 eggs. Since they lay eggs only once a day, this process takes between 1 and 2 weeks. When all the eggs are laid, the hen begins to incubate them, which means she sits on them to keep them warm. Twenty-one days later, the chicks will hatch.

While they’re developing in the egg, the chick lives off of the nutrients in the yolk. That’s what yolks are for – baby chick food! During the 21-day incubation, a chick grows in size from a tiny speck on the side of the yolk to a chick that fills up the entire egg.

Here are a few milestones in the development of a chick embryo:
Days 1-3: Tissue development starts, heart forms and begins to beat, blood vessels growing.
Days 4 – 9: Limbs, beak, fathers, and claws develop.
Days 10 – 13: Tail feathers develop, scales form on feet and legs, eyelids form.
Days 14 – 21: Feathers cover the body, embryo turns into hatching position, yolk sac draws into abdomen, embryo fills all available space in the egg.
Day 21: Hatching!

05/25/2026

Happy Memorial Day. The park is open dawn to dusk today and the animals will be out in their pastures from 9am until 3pm. Farm offices are closed today.

05/22/2026

Why couldn't the chicken sleep?
She had too many egg-spressos!

05/21/2026

In this photo, a caretaker in the late 1970s herds the ducks back into their pen. The ducks loved the wetlands that surround the farm!

05/20/2026

Zoey the chicken is celebrating Bike to Work day with the help of one of our farm volunteers!

05/20/2026

04/24/2026

Shear excitement in the air! 🐑

Kelsey Creek Farm is gearing up for Sheep Shearing tomorrow, one of the community’s most-loved spring traditions.

Watch live shearing demos, meet the animals, explore fiber arts and hop on a tractor-pulled wagon ride. It is a full day of hands-on fun on the farm.

• Saturday, April 25 | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Free admission
• Shuttle recommended

Details: bellevuewa.gov/sheep-shearing