10 Baby Chicks!

We had 10 out of the 12 eggs hatch this year! We are so excited to welcome the baby chicks to the world!

The chicks will be in the library until the 2nd week in May.

Day 21 - We Have Hatchlings

We are so excited to share that we have hatchlings!!!!

So far we have had 8 out of 12 eggs hatch.

Here we have a picture of several chicks that had just hatched and a video of one of the chicks hatching!

 Here is a time lapse video of one of the eggs hatching. In real time this hatching took about 15 minutes.

Day 20 - Early Hatcher!

Exciting news!!!!

Even though technically tomorrow is day 21 (hatching day), we have one egg that has decided to hatch early!

The chick is using his egg tooth to slowly break through the hard shell of the egg!

You can watch the hatching live through our school Ustream account at

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hughes-chicken-hatching-live\

 

Day 14 and 15

On days 14 and 15 the chick's skull, beak, claws and scales on the legs all begin to become much firmer and the 'egg tooth', which will be used to break out of the shell, hardens. 

The air cell is growing to provide enough air to keep the chick alive, and the egg white is becoming smaller.  The embryo is now filling most of the egg cavity. If we tried candling the eggs now, eggs with chicks inside would simply appear dark, while eggs without chicks would have more light shining inside.

Day 11 - Egg Candling

Although it is difficult to see, there is a darker, shadowed area above my finger indicating that a chick is growing in the egg!

 

Today we were able to candle egg #6. Candling is the process of placing the egg on top of a light source so that shadows can be seen inside the egg. If there is a shadow present, then there is a likely chance that the egg has a chick growing inside. 

When we candled this egg, we were able to see a shadowed area that appeared to slightly move. We are hopeful that this is a baby chick! We will be sure to keep a close eye on this egg as it gets closer to hatching day!

The Perfect Nest - Donohue/Foster

After reading the book The Perfect Nest, Mrs. Foster and Mrs. Donohue's classes shared ideas about how the incubator is like the perfect nest for the eggs.

Some of the students' responses are below:

Elia: The chicks in the nest (in the book) got warm from Jack just like the incubator keeps the eggs warm.
Lily: The incubator is warm like Jack.
Emmett: Jack and the baby birds made a community like we will be a community with the chicks that hatch.
Annelise: The incubator helps keep the eggs safe.
Jude: The incubator has an egg turner to keep all sides of the egg warm.

The Perfect Nest - Spaulding

Question: How is the incubator like the perfect nest for the chicken eggs?

Answer from Mrs. Spaulding's Class:

Caleb: We are keeping the eggs very warm so they can hatch.
Bronson: It is keeping them safe.
Rachel: The incubator keeps the eggs warm.
Adelais: The incubator should be at 100 degrees.
Brooklyn: It helps keep them from being breakfast!

Day 4 Update

It is day 4 for the eggs in the incubator. So far the chicks should have began developing the hear, eyes, nervous system, heart, ears, nose, legs, wings, and tongue.

Later this week we will candle the eggs. Candling is when we use a light to shine through the shell and see the shadow of the chick inside.

2016 Eggs Have Arrived!

Our eggs for 2016 have arrived!! Today is considered "day 1" in the incubator. The eggs will spend 21 days in the incubator before hatching will occur!

The first graders will be coming to check out the eggs in the library today. They will be keeping track of the eggs in their own journals in class.

We received 12 light brown eggs!