Check out our Chicks!

The excitement in grade one for the arrival of our chicks began to build on the Friday, April 28th, when we prepared our eggs for hatching by removing them from the egg turner, adding moist sponges and water to the troughs.

'Hatching Day' was Monday, May 1st - just in time for the beginning of Catholic Education Week. When we arrived at school that morning, little cheeps could be heard from inside the incubators!

We took a peek and this is what we saw:

The cheeping and movement of the live chicks in the incubator helped to encourage the other chicks to hatch and by the end of Tuesday we had over 30 healthy, live chicks from all of the grade one classes combined! The children were very excited to finally meet the chicks and see the wide variety of colours (black, white, yellow, grey,). Once the chicks were fully dried off and rested, they were moved to the 'Brooder' where there was fresh water, food, and the warmth of heat lamps and heating pads.

Finally the students were each given the opportunity to hold a baby chick (after they had a couple of days to recuperate from their hatching). They learned the importance of a quiet voice and how to gently hold the chicks while keeping them safe.  They were utterly thrilled!