Chicken Update:
The incubation process was much smoother the second time around. My precocious chicks started hatching 2 days earlier than anticipated! When I left school, one shell had a tiny crack in it, and I expected I'd return in the morning to watch the chick finish the job.
I entered my dark classroom in the morning, and turned on the lights. I was greeted by a flurry of chirps. Imagine my surprise when I opened the incubator to find THREE newly hatched chicks waiting! Now, that's more like it!
We ended up with 6 chicks, from 12 eggs. I finally figured out how to candle the eggs, so I knew that one was infertile. The other 5 eggs were watched carefully for the next few days, one chick died trying to hatch, another was alive enough to jiggle around in the shell but not enough to attempt a hatch. This time, I didn't open the other eggs. I had marked any eggs that showed movement, and these weren't marked. Having learned hard lessons last time, I had no problem disposing the duds, unopened. Ignorance doesn't haunt your dreams, now, does it?
Letting the students visit with the chicks was much easier with six. I kept the littlest one for myself. Honestly, it was half the size of the others, and I wanted to protect it's immune system as much as possible. The other five were content being loved by different groups of students all afternoon. The little one had to be content being cuddled by the teacher.
Next batch of eggs arrives on Valentine's Day!
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| I never could get all of them looking at the camera at the same time. |
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| Look at those itty bitty tail feathers! |
