Chicking All the Boxes

I have wanted to hatch chicks with my class for a few years now. There was always something that got in the way! One year there was a chicken disease and places in California weren't allowed to sell eggs. The next year I was all set to do it in April, and Covid-19 lock-down started in March. This year we decided to do it in November. Nothing can stop us now!

It has been such an incredible learning experience for the children. Seeing the miracle of life unfold, waiting excitedly to check the progressing embryos, and learning how to be responsible and kind to animals. This is definitely an experience we will not forget!

We started off our journey by placing the eggs into the incubator. They needed to go into a special compartment that turns them, just like a mother hen would in the nest.

*Special thank you to the Heidingsfeld Family for lending us their incubator.

Then the countdown began. We needed to wait 21 days before the chicks would hatch. It seemed like it would take forever! We recorded each day on a chart.

On Day 7 we checked inside the eggs to see if an embryo had started growing. We could see the veins forming in the shell! We used a tool called a candler. It was a bright light that helped us see through the shell. Candlers work the best in a dark room.

The incubator keeps the eggs warm inside. We kept checking to see if any had hatched.

Finally day 18 arrived! Today we had to take the eggs and put them on a lower rack in the incubator.

They also don't need to turn anymore, because the chicks inside were getting ready to come out!

We candled the eggs one more time on day 18. They are so dark, full of the chick embryo!

Time to get our chick habitat ready! We needed to get a special heat lamp, because baby chicks need to stay very warm and they can't do it by themselves. We tested it out to make sure it would be warm enough!

Sunday morning Morah Davina texted our Mommies and Tatties! We had baby chicks at Gan!

On Monday when we came to school, there were 4 little chicks, with two more on the way!

We saw two hatch! They worked hard to crack out of their shells!

We voted on different names for them and each person gave a suggestion!

Writing name labels for our chicks!

You can buy special chick food, but we made our own!

We mixed together oatmeal and hardboiled eggs, and the chicks loved it!

One of the best parts was holding and touching our chicks!

We were super gentle, because being kind to animals is a special mitzvah in the Torah!

Overheard many times this week "Mommy can we keep a chick at our house!"