Chicken Cam!!

Chickens are cool!!  As part of our 1st grade GROWING AND CHANGING unit of inquiry, we hatched eggs this month.  It's the first time in a LOOOOONNG time that we've hatched eggs at our school, and I'm TOTALLY not sure why...it's been a HOOT!

It's also been a little stressful too....starting with having to find a different supplier of fertilized chicken eggs when our original source wasn't able to fill our order.  We found one in Iowa, and they arrived about 25 days ago via UPS.

The next stress was making sure the incubators were at the proper temperature, and that the humidity level was high enough to facilitate the hatch.  After that, we worried because none of the eggs hatched on day 21.  LUCKILY, they DID start hatching on days 22 and 23, and we now have 15 peeping chicks melting the hearts of everyone who sees them! 

I've been AMAZED at the reaction people have had to them...from the music teacher wanting to "free them all from the brooder" and run with them (!), to the teachers who don't typically participate in anything sneaking up for a peek when they THINK no one is around!  I have to admit...I ADORE them, and will be sad to see them go to the farm tomorrow.  I've taken on the unofficial role of "chick watcher", and, so far, have been in three times this weekend to check on them.

It's been a HOOT to hear from people via e-mail and on Facebook who have been watching the progress on the CHICKEN CAM! that we set up....from streaming video from the incubators during the "hatch", to watching the hatched chicks flop around in their temporary chicken house, people have enjoyed watching them!

Here's a screen shot from the camera:

Here's hoping YOU were able to enjoy a rewarding project lately too!!!!