Chicks - March 2013.

Hi Everyone

We have to thank anonymous parents’ who sponsored the 2013 living egg experience for the setting, without their support we wouldn’t have been able to afford the scheme this year.

 At the end of February the eggs arrived.  How eagerly the children kept watch!  Over the next few days one by one nearly all the eggs hatched.  We had 12 baby chicks this year in total.  7 girls (hens) and 5 boys (cockerels)....we could tell because girls were brown and boys were yellow.

 Only one of the chicks hatched out during the daytime this year.  All the children present eagerly kept watch as little by little the baby chick chipped its way out of its shell and fell out onto the tray in the incubator.

 It’s truly miraculous that such a scruffy, scrawny thing becomes a fluffy chick an hour later.  Most of the children looked on in awe with lots of “it’s so cute” each time we transferred a chick from the incubator into the brooder

 We often spotted children watching the chicks through the viewing window, commenting on what the chicks were doing.  In the first day or two, the chicks were often sleepy...and bundled together like a heap of cotton wool balls, with legs and wings stuck out here there and everywhere.  After a day or two, they were much more active and inquisitive and made us laugh at some of their antics.

 It’s amazing how quickly chicks grow!  Two days and we could see some of their flight feathers on their wings start to develop.  The chicks became much more robust and just a few days after they were born the children were able to hold them in their hands.

 What a surprise the children had when the chicks launched themselves in their first attempts to fly on Day 6.  How disgusted we were at the mess they soon made of their bedding...we had to clean them out every day!

 Although the weather was VERY COLD this year, we did take the chicks outside to enjoy some winter sunshine.  The children enjoyed using our big blocks to make a pen for them.  We had lots of giggles when the chicks started walking through the hollow blocks and hopping over the top and needed catching and returning.

 

The “living egg” experience is such an amazing starting point for children’s learning. 

-       talk about other animals that start life in an egg...insects; dinosaurs; lizards; snakes and more.

-       egg math – matching pairs; patterned eggs; number lines; sizing etc

-       Easter

PSE: The children showed their interest in the items that arrived.
PSE: The children were polite and well –behaved, responding to adults asking them to stand back whilst they watched.
CL: The children are learning new words.
CL: The children asked lots of questions
L: – ascribe meaning to the marks that they see – this time the sign saying “DO NOT TOUCH”
Math The children counted the eggs in the incubator – 17 eggs in total
UW: - The children had to wait patiently for the eggs to hatch
UW: The children learnt about an incubator
• UW: The children learnt about other animals that came out of eggs, including: snakes; lizards; crocodiles; swans; owls; ducks; spiders; butterflies; snails; fish etc. They drew an animal in an egg

PSE: the children didn’t touch the controls of the incubator. They were careful not to knock it or touch. They showed awareness of the rules and followed them.
• CL: The children recalled what was said the day before in their language use.
• CL The children were quiet for a period whilst we all listened to see if we could hear chicks peeping inside their shells.
• LL: We tried to think of other words that rhymed with chick: tick: Mick: Dick: lick: flick. We thought of some alliteration strings – Charlie’s Chicks Cheep Cheerily
• Math: The children estimated the number of chicks that might hatch overnight
• UW: Showing interest in the world in which we live.
• EAD: The children painted pictures of what they thought that their chicks might look like

 

Even parents snuck into the setting to sneak a peak....one or two commenting that they hadn’t ever seen a chick hatch from an egg either.

 It is a truly amazing opportunity for children to partake in – thank you everyone for making it achievable once again this year.

 

PS – The 2013 chicks went home to Michele’s farm. As they grew up, Michele took pictures to show the children.  There are 9 little red hens (There were 10, but one may have been caught by a fox!) 

The pullets (young hens) laid their first small eggs at the end of June.



Michele