Our Chicks Are Going Upstate...

Well, it had to happen sometime....our nine growing chicks are leaving Brooklyn for their new home in upstate New York!  We are lucky that a wonderful PS58 family has a chicken coop at their house upstate and has offered to take our chicks for the second time!  We now will be able to see how they grow!

Blue Andalusian chick!

Inside the brooder. They love to huddle together.

A Barred Rock chick exploring the classroom.

They love to eat out of our hands!

Pecking at sparkly sneakers!

They sure do like to poop!  Lots of paper towels
to cover it up!

Escaping chicks in all directions!

They are SO soft!

You can feel their bones.

Standing on some hands, while other hands wait patiently!

This chick is resting on Ms. Karyn's wrist!

Lots of food!*

Come on little guy!*

It doesn't hurt when they peck.*

Here you go little chick.*

Come onto my hands!*

Ms. Valerie's class, K-131, made a house for the chicks during choice time.  There was a bridge, a tunnel to get inside, soft beds, a hanging porch and a top that could let light in.The class was so excited to see if the chicks would like their creation! Some of the class noticed that the entrance to the house was too small for the growing chick to use, so they opened up the top!

They borrowed two scooters from the gym to
bring the house safely from their classroom
to mine.

They explained all the parts, including soft
foam in case the chicks fell off the bridge.

One of the Blue Andalusian chicks bravely
walked across the bridge!

She was a little uncertain about the porch.

After spotting my Little Sun solar lamp, they
added it to their house thinking it would help the
chicks see.

Well....two solar lamps are better than one...
and better to be inside the house so it won't fall on the chicks!

* photo credit Karyn Ruggiero.

Into the Brooder They Go!

We have nine little chicks so far!  They have been very vocal...and very cute! I moved them into the brooder at the end of the day today.  I "taught" them how to eat and drink from the feeders and made sure the temperature is at 90 degrees! They seem to love having more room to move around!  They are so light and soft...one even fell asleep in my hand.  Can't wait for the classes to be able to touch them next week!

Meet Cutie, Jessie and Fuzzy!

Cutie, Jessie and Fuzzy were taken out of the incubator at the end of the day today and put in the brooder (90 degrees inside).  I had to teach one of the ducklings, Cutie, how to drink water and eat food and then the other ducklings followed suit. They were fast learners. It is their first night outside of the incubator!

There is still one egg in the incubator.  Tomorrow is the actual hatch date, so we will see what happens.

The Chicks are Growing!

The chicks are a week old now!  Our final number of hatched chicks is 19!  The last little guy needed some help getting out of its shell, but.....it made it!

They are cute little chicks!  They like to huddle together and peck at things. Just today I noticed they were starting to scratch (looking for potential food).  

You can see the chick's ear!

Oh they love to huddle!

It's hard work being a chick!

After they drink the water, they lift their
head up to swallow!

Feathers are starting to come in on the wings - day 4.

Checking out the classroom.

You can see more feathers on the wings!

The end of a long day!

So Many Chicks!!!

Day two of the chicks hatching!  When I left school yesterday 13 chicks had hatched!  That is a wonderful success rate!   When I arrived at school this morning....I saw 18 chicks running around in the incubator!  It sure was crowded in there!

Over the course of the day, once the chicks feathers had dried, I moved them into our brooder!

The temperature inside the brooder is 90 degrees F.

They love to huddle next to each other when they get ready to sleep.

Food, water, heat!

They are SO soft!

Since the chicks don't have a mama hen to show them what to do, I chose a few chicks and showed them how to eat the poultry grain and drink the water.  I did this by putting the chicks head right at the food and water.  It took a few tries, but it worked!  Once one chick eats and drinks, the others follow!

They are very curious when I take pictures of them.

They peck at the dots!

Food!

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings with the chicks!!

Three More Days Before the Chicks Hatch!

Today the chick eggs were taken out of the egg turner and placed on the mesh floor of the incubator for the final lockdown!  Lockdown is when the humidity level is raised in the incubator to about 70% and the eggs aren't touched until they hatch!  Only 3 more days to wait!  We have been talking in class about the probability that not all eggs will hatch.  When eggs have been flown to their destination (as ours have) a 50% hatch rate is average!

Are they moving?

Looking at the eggs in the incubator.

The PK classes at the Annex came to room 112 to look at the eggs!

What do you think the chick looks like in the egg right now?

Three more days until we find out!!

This is what some of the PK think the chicks look like inside the egg!

Kindergarten is also learning about the life cycle of the chicken.

Two of the eggs have spots on them!

All the eggs are now out of the turner and are ready for lockdown!

The count down continues.

The brooder is ready for the chicks!