Eggs to Chicks in the Classroom

Getting the classroom and kiddos ready for our chicks has been fun. We have an egg calendar where we put up facts about the egg each day. Also, we have a countdown until the chicks arrive.

The picture below is the incubator with our chick eggs inside. They were smaller than I expected. They have dirt on them and my kiddos were concerned that someone wrote all over them. So cute!

 

The typical incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days. Our chicks came a day early! We kept the chicks in the incubator for 2 days to let the other chicks hatch too. It is ok to leave the chicks in the incubator for 2 days because they still have the yolk from the egg in their bellies to keep them feeling full.

 

 

 

The chicks who hatched helped those still trying to hatch! When they were not stepping on other eggs, they used their beaks to help crack the eggs open. I recorded it with my iPad and used my Apple TV to stream it. The children loved it!

 

 

All but one of my eggs hatched. Prior to hatching, I discussed to the children that there is a good chance some of our eggs will not be fertilized. Unfortunately, our last one was fertilized but the chick was not strong enough to hatch. A chick hatching pro (another kindergarten teacher) said to leave those chicks to try it on their own. She said usually the ones that struggle do not live very long. She set up a rehabilitation center "a box" for those chicks that hatched and had problems. One chick went into the box because it could not move its legs. It was very hard for the children to see. The chick lived for 2 days.

 

Next we moved the chicks into a box with a lamp to keep them warm. I added 2 small stuffed animals into the box and the chicks cuddled up to them instantly. The first picture is the box in my room. Our chick expert, Ms. Rumph, box is below. I will make my box like hers next year.

 

I bought a kiddie pool at Walmart for $9.99 and let the chicks run around while I cleaned their box. During this time the children were allowed to watch. They were fascinated by their feces! I recommend putting newspaper down in the kiddie pool. It makes clean up much easier. They really do go a lot.

After 2 weeks it was time to go back to the farm. The chicks were starting to get their feathers and flying out of the pool onto the carpet. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again next year.