Classroom Chicks! A "Peep" Into Raising Chickens

We will soon be hosting about 20 chicks in our classroom. I am so excited and I am sure the children will be too!

Ordering Your Chicks!

After talking to several professionals and doing hours of online research; I have decided that I will be ordering a variety of chicks online. YEP! ONLINE! You can follow this link.

I have chosen a variety of chicks that will lay different colored eggs and a few that I think are just adorable. So here is the variety that I have chosen:
Welsummer: for dar brown speckled eggs
Polish Chicks: This bird is for the cute factor. Big Bird is a polish chicken.
Black Ameraucana: for blue eggs
Assorted Rainbow: These will be a great surprise and I am hoping that the students will be able to learn about identifying the chicks.

Preparing for Arrival

Building TWO Brooder Boxes (because 1 just won’t be enough as they grow)

Supplies:

2 50-Gallon plastic tubs
1 Roll of hardware net
Plastic zip ties
2- Heat Lamps with clamps, and red light bulbs
1 bundle of pine shavings

Cordless drill
1/4″ drill bit
1/2″ drill bit
Jigsaw
Wire Cutters

Building the Boxes

1. Draw lines on the lid to mark where you will cut the hole. Drill holes in each corner with 1/2 inch drill bit.

2. Cut a hole at the top of each of the boxes with a jigsaw.

3. Measure the net and use the wire cutters to cut. FYI… Be careful when cutting the wire netting! It likes to coil back at ya!

4. Drill 1/4″ holes around the lid and attach the netting with zip ties.

Now you are ready to add heat lamps and pine shavings!

The Chicks Have Arrived!

These adorable chicks have arrived!
We ordered 18 chicks and 21 chicks arrived. All of them have survived. My daughter picked them up from the Post Office and Face-timed us as she unboxed them.
They will be spending the first few days at my home, but the students are so excited that they will be at school next Monday.

Here are instructions of care:

1. Place paper towels in the brooder box.
2. Prepare sugar water (1 teaspoon to 1 quart of warm water).
3. Dip the beak of each chick into a warm water mixture (98 degrees) as you place them into the brooder box.
4. Sprinkle feed on paper towel
5. Place crumbled egg yolks on top of the feed.
6. After the first 4 hours. Change water. Don’t add sugar, but continue to provide warm water for the first 24 hours. Add feeders.
7. Make sure that the temperature is between 90-100 degrees for the first few days
8. Keep chicks warm, dry, and clean!
* Keep Amprol on hand

Week One:

Chicks will visit the children at school during the week and will come home with me on the weekends.

The children have had fun coming up with names for the chicks.

Hens:

Dixie, Penny, Amy, Betsy, Daisy, Charolette, Minnie, Florence, Opal, Ginger, Honey, Bernadette, Lucy, Priya, Hazel, Frizzle, Pepper, Baylee, Sparkle, Rose, Paisley, Lizzy, Nikki, Carmen, Piper

Roosters:

Sylvester, Sheldon, Leonard, Dale, Sizer, Zac, Valor

Chick growth:
The chicks are growing fast! They are starting to get their wing and tail feathers. Some are even trying to fly.
Instructions of care: Continue to provide a dry warm environment. Lower temperature to 90-95 degrees. Clean water every day and continue to feed chick starters. I have added a stick, so they can start to roost.

Week Two:

Activities: Last Thursday the kids had to say goodbye to the chicks. They were getting too big and I feel that it was stressing them out to be at school. So, I decided to take them home so that I can let them into the coop in the afternoon. I promised the students that I would take lots of pictures and video them weekly.

This worked until today. Since it has been cold and rainy here for the last two days, I had to make a bigger brooder. Here is the link to the brooder that I had to put together last minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0PAnrP3MYs
Chick Growth: The chicks have doubled in size. They all have tail and wing feathers. Some even have neck feathers.
Instructions of care: Had to move to a bigger brooder. Brooder temps are between 85-90 degrees. Chicks are still eating chick feed.

Week Three:

Activities: Chicks are now having regular “field trips” outside. They are learning how to go up the ladder. They enjoy the outdoors and their new snacks (spinach and mealworms).
Chick Growth: They have most of their feathers and are about 6 inches tall.
Instructions of care: Brooder temps are at 80-85 degrees. We are introducing some veggies to their diet. We have added chick grit to the starter feed to help with digestion.

Classroom Chicks! A “Peep” Into Raising Chickens

Ordering Your Chicks!