The Chicks have Hatched

The Year 6 pupils in school have had the joy of incubating and hatching chicks. Elliama writes,

” We have very eggciting news! All 16 of our lovely chicks have successfully  hatched. We are having so much fun with them and have given them some cracking names: Eggetha Christy, Albert Eggstein, Henny Penny, Humpty Dumpty, just to name a few. We are so eggstatic that we have another week with them!”

Having the chicks in the class has been a really educational experience for everyone involved. The eggs arrived on day 19 of their fertilisation, pupils had to make sure that the incubator was kept at the optimal temperature of 37 degrees to give the eggs the best chance of hatching. Even before they hatched the chicks could be heard cheeping from inside their eggs!

The chicks began hatching on day 21, which is the expected hatching time. It takes a lot of energy for a chick to break out of their shell and when they do finally hatch they need to stay in the incubator for at least another 24 hours to keep them warm. The chicks do not need feeding during this time as they ingest their yolk sack; this provides them with all the nutrition they need for the first 48 hours.

Approximately 24 hours after they have hatched the chicks are moved to the brooder box where there is a heat lamp to help them keep warm. The chicks seem to like each others company and having humans around too –  Year 6 have done a fantastic job of changing their bedding daily, feeding them twice a day and making sure they always have clean water.