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.

 

 

 

 

Life Cycle of a Chicken

This week we are on a much needed spring break. When we return to school on Monday we will begin a life cycle unit on chickens. Another kindergarten teacher travels to Charleston, SC to spend time with her family. Every year she returns from spring break with eggs to put in our incubators. I am very excited and nervous about it. I am worried that when the chicks hatch I will lose my kiddos. The next 20 or so days of school will be prepping them for that moment.

Luckily I inherited an incubator from the last teacher. She had two because she hatched ducks! I would love to do that at some point in my life. Right now I am good with my kiddos and chicks. Did I mention that I have a dog with anxiety at home? So I gave one of the incubators to another kindergarten teacher who did not have one. We were blessed to have our PTA purchase them a year or two ago.


So I created a life cycle of a chicken pack on Teachers Pay Teachers. This pack is to go along with your books about chicks. It contains 2 posters, can, have, are chart, KWL chart, observation book, sight word book, vocabulary cards, student worksheets, procedural writing, word work, labeling a chicken, and a Venn Diagram sheet.

 

Click here to preview it on my TPT store :)