by 6th class Student 14/1/09

The chicken experiment taught us to care, feed, love and respect chickens and many different animals too.

It also gave us more responsibility and knowing that the teacher could depend on us to remember to feed and clean the chickens, and also to be silent in the class while the chickens were hatching.

There was a thrilling atmosphere in the class while the chickens were hatching. Any chance we had to get out of our seats, we always had a swift glance at the chickens.

We were waiting for six tiny chicks to hatch inside the incubator. We were all over the moon and high spirited when we saw that six eggs had turned into four chicks. Unfortunately two of the chicks died.

The oldest chick was a female and the colour of her fur was gold. We decided the best name for her would be “Tweetie”.

Tweetie on the lookout

There were two black chicks. We had a problem naming these two female chicks. It was either between “Salt and Pepper” or “Sugar and Spice”. The majority was “Sugar and Spice.”

The last chick was our only male. His fur was a lighter gold than his older sister. We decided that the perfect name for him would be “Elvis”.

Each class had a go at minding the chicks. Seeing as we were the Senior Class we had the most time with the chicks. The younger children really loved playing with the chicks. They got so eager to pet and hold the chicks~ they were literally skipping up and down!

We soon realised we had a huge task in front of us. The chicks needed a good scrub! So we knew we had to do this on our own to show everyone how mature we can handle these situations. With a lot of time and effort we eventually got the chicks spotless. To really impress the teachers we even cleaned out the chick’s brooding box every day.

Chicken keeping warm in brooding box

As the chicks were growing we noticed some changes. We looked more familiar to the chicks and they got less frightened when we were around. Tweety was starting to get a pattern on her wings. They were getting bigger and stronger. Their food also changed to eggs and lettuce and soon the chicks would be exploring and playing in grass and hay. The chicks would have a few quarrels with each other. But overall the chicks were always playing and entertaining each other. Then again there’s always the odd argue in every family!

Chickens Posing!

We can all definitely say that we all learned a lot, from holding, feeding, petting, cleaning, minding and lots more! We certainly would agree that it was an amusing and incredible experiment! Everyone really enjoyed the experiment! My favourite part was holding the chicks, even though their feet may feel strange on your hand or when the chicks try and fly away while you’re holding them, it’s those moments which will stay in you mind and heart forever!

Hopefully we can do it again some time! But I don’t think anyone will forget the hilarious and amusing moments we had with the chicks! Those memories will always be in B.E.T.N.S.!

Update. The chickens visited the school a few weeks later. It was good to see them nearly fully grown

Chickens nearly fully grown

If your school would like to participate in the Egg Project the coordinator Duncan Stout can be contacted at theamazingeggco@eircom.net or through Blessington Educate Together