The third graders at Lucia Wallace started their life cycle unit by incubating and hatching chickens. Ag in the Classroom provided all of the third-grade classrooms with eggs and supplies needed for this project. We got to see what the eggs looked like before they went into the incubator and learned about the life cycle of a chicken. She showed us how to set up the cage for when the chicks hatch and how to put out food and water. She also provided us with a box of model eggs, so we could see what the chick developed each day. She then set up the incubator and placed the eggs inside.
The incubation process takes 21 days. Each day we had to take care of the eggs in the incubator by making sure there was enough water to keep the incubator humid. On day 10, we candled the eggs which means we used a flashlight to see the inside of the egg. It was cool! We saw four eggs starting to develop but three were not. The model eggs showed us that on day 13, the chicks started to grow feathers. We had to put some cardboard in the incubator on day 19 to make it easier to clean up when the chicks hatch. The cage contains chick food and water with a heat lamp above the cage. The cage is blue and white.
They started hatching on day 21. Our teacher put colored x`s on all of the eggs, so we could tell them apart. The yellow chick started to hatch first, but the red one broke out first. When one started to hatch, it would chirp and egg the other chicks to come out. The four colors that hatched were red, yellow, blue, and orange. Once they hatched, we kept them in the incubator for a few hours to dry off because they were wet. We put them in the cage once they dried off and were fluffy. When they are in the cage, they are cute and loud. Two things they like to do are fight and sleep. We put food coloring dye on the tops of their heads so that we could tell them apart. The chicks will stay in our classroom for a few days. During that time, we will take care of them by feeding them, giving them water, and changing out their newspaper. It will be sad when they are gone, but we know they are going to a safe farm.
Written by Collin Wirtz, Zachary Woodford, Claire Jacobson, Ellie Hein, Hayden Waltman, and Matthew Brinkley.