Hatching Today...I'm Terrified!

[Laney]

Stacie,

I am so happy for you and the little guy!!!! I hope the boys are thrilled when they come to class tomorrow.

Can you share some more about the program? Will they get to name the birds? How long will they stay in the classroom? Will they leave soon after they hatch, or do they get to stay a few days/weeks?

What breed of chicken are they? What kind of program are the boys learning with this? Is it responsibility oriented or biology??

Laney

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Awe

Congrats!!!

 

[Stacieb2121]

I finally had to come home....I have dogs and a child that felt they deserved more attention than my chick and eggs.

I'm exhausted! Why do I feel like I spent all day trying to come out of an egg???

Our program is a county non-secure residential facility. The boys range in age from 12 to 17. Most of them have been locked up before.
I teach 6th, 7th and 8th grade science but a lot of the boys are many grades behind and are in their middle teens.
I came up with the idea to hatch chickens in the classroom when my son, who is in second grade, came home and told me he was soooo excited because they were going to hatch "baby chickens" in his class this year.
It started out as just this neat idea, something to engage them in the classroom...I had no idea that they would become attached....a group of mommies!
Another teacher at our facility has a neighbor who had an old incubator, (the old metal round kind), said she would let us borrow it and supply the eggs. After I got the approval from the higher ups we started "The Great Chicken Adventure....Round 1". We didn't have an automatic turner so the boys were responsible for turning the eggs, checking the temp and deciding if the eggs were alive and growing when we candled them. This was a scary prospect because some of these boys are violent offenders. Boy Felons. And it was a really moving experience because these were the ones who became the most protective and loving toward these eggs. We had a huge countdown and the boys paired up and each had their own egg that they named, (Sassy was my favorite name a boy picked). Hatching day came and went and nothing happened. There was a lot of sad faces that day and a lot of grumbling from the boys who were due to be released and wouldn't be around for the next hatch.
Instead of taking the chance with old incubator, which didn't regulate its temperature very well, I went out and bought a new incubator with an automatic turner, (I was sick of coming up here every weekend), and started again.
The boys were just as protective and when we candled them on Friday out of the 12 eggs we started with 11 of them had very definite movement. So today was a very egg-citing day....(I will pause here for a collective rolling of the eyes).
I couldn't make the boys leave the classroom today!!!! And they did get to see the pipping and hear the peeping and I can't wait for tomorrow. I was terrified all day though...questioning humidity, temperature, the whole set-up! I just couldn't stand the thought of the eggs pipping, the boys getting excited and then them not hatching completely. I'm still terrified now that I will come in tomorrow and they will be dead. This has evolved out of the classroom too...I have high school and GED boys coming by or asking questions, I have other teachers and Detention officers coming by all day, and by luck my principal was there this evening when this guy hatched and caught it on video on her phone. This was especially neat because she has been my biggest supporter!

I'm hoping to keep them in class for about 2 weeks so we can learn how to care for something. After that they are going to the farm that provided the eggs. I have no idea what kind of chickens they are...I do have one green egg though that the woman is very anxious to have hatch because she says they are really beautiful chickens!
To answer the last question...I guess it started out as a lesson in embryonic development but it turned into something different. I would bet for some of these boys they have never had anything depend on them or ever felt attached to something and now I'm watching it everyday...and this was even before they hatched!!!
I will update everyone tomorrow with the reactions of the boys!!! Keep your fingers crossed everything is ok when I get there in the morning!!!

Thanks for all the congrats!

Stacie

 

[Laney]

Thanks for sharing this with us Stacie. I think even more amazing than the fact that a Chicken comes out of an egg at the end of 21 days is the amazing things those 21 days can do to us.

Your right that those boys probably never had something to fuss over and care about the way they have those eggs. They have probably also never personally witnessed a miracle, or seen something that they can truly believe in.

After this they can see that they can do something that can have a huge payback for them. Perhaps you could even look up the local legislation for them where they live and find out if the city they will be released back home to allows back yard chickens? You might be surprised by the number of boys who would look forward to having a few.

I hope some of the chicks wait for the boys to be there in the morning.

Laney

 

[D10chickenmom]

that is about the most inspiring thing I have read in a long time. No joke here Stacie I had to stop reading while I bawled for a full minute. Stacie you are a very special teacher. your boys will never forget this experience. I am waiting with baited breath to here how it goes tomarrow!

 

[Stacieb2121]

Awe! Thank you so much!!!
Its really very cool...it was even cooler today when one of my groups got to see one of the eggs hatch!!!
This is what one boy said...."darn Miss....this is the most amazing thing I ever saw, and I had to be in jail to see it!"
Sad, but good in a way.

SO I came in this morning at 5:00 am...I could hardly wait....and I had three new little chickens and the VERY active one from yesterday!
Within the hour another lil guy hatched and then at about 11:03 am...another one hatched with a group of boys watching. Actually I think he hatched because of them. They would talk to him and he would work harder. When they stopped talking he would stop moving. It was so strange to watch. They talked to him like a baby...but the funniest thing I heard was...."Hey lil guy...what's crackin?"
Hilarious!

I have two eggs that have pipped...actually pretty big holes. One was like that when I got in this morning and has made little progress, although I keep seeing his little beak come through every now and then. The other has gotten bigger but around 1pm stopped and now his beak is just sitting in the hole opening and closing.
How long should I let this go on?

I will post pics very very soon

Stacie

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Patience!!!

 

[evonne]

congrats on the chics, and the HUGE difference this little experiment will make for the boys.
silly question, but you do have the brooder with heat lamp set up already right??

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh my gosh. I am sitting here crying my eyes out. What an opportunity for those boys, what an opportunity for you to make an amazing difference in their lives.

I never let myself forget but that for the grace of God, I could be there. Or one of my children. Every one of those boys has probably had to deal with more sorrow, pain, shame, and horror than most of us suffer in all our lives, and the fact that someone is finally showing them not only that they *are* loved, but also that *they* can love and that they can make a difference in another life--even if it's just a little chicken--well, that may be the experience that turns their lives around.

And the comment about having to be in jail to experience something so amazing. Man, doesn't that just tell you something about the environment that drives these children to crime? God, it just makes me so sad. And so happy, at the same time--happy that someone like you is out there doing something like that, and making a real difference in their lives.

Not to get too personal, but I have watched a life very very dear to me, a young boy, who went from exhibiting aggressive, potentially dangerous and definitely hurtful behaviors, to being a sweet, loving, compassionate child with a bright future, and it all comes down to compassion. So I find this particular story very moving.

Anyway, as for the eggs--I know exactly how you feel during the hatch. It's the scariest part of the process, and every time I incubate, I think I'll be less nervous, but every time I'm an absolute wreck at hatching time. And several times in the middle, too, whenever something slightly out of the ordinary happens. Or when I candle two days early and don't see anything in one or two of the eggs. Or whatever! LOL. So I can identify.

I'm so glad you're getting some babies this time. I hope anyone who had named an egg won't be too disappointed if their particular one doesn't hatch. It's rare that every egg that makes it to hatching day also makes it out of the egg. But I know your boys are going to be so amazed. And I'm glad they'll get to take care of the babies for a while.

Go, you!

 

[FenDruadin]

Oh, I just want to add that you're probably right that the chick hatched faster because of the boys. The chicks will talk to each other, and I've noticed that if I'm watching and "cheering them on," they eggs are much more active than if I just stand and watch. Others have noted the same thing, repeatedly, so I think the anecdotal evidence is quite strong that they do in fact work faster when they have a cheering section.

I can't wait to hear your update tomorrow!