Chick Cam! (& Classroom Update)

The Chicks are Hatching!

<a href="https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/chick-hatching-egg_27547184.htm">Image by brgfx</a> on Freepik

 

For the last three weeks, we've been incubating chicken eggs from the UVM Extension Embryology program and this is the THE WEEK that they'll be hatching!  It's always an exciting time in school, so we've set up some LIVE cameras (via YouTube) to keep an eye on things, even when we aren't in the classroom!

Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Mrs. Girouard's Chick Cam

When the chicks hatch and are moved into their brooders for the remainder of the week, we'll be sure to move our Live cameras too!

Watch our LIVE Chick Cams!

The chicks we've been watching grow for the past few weeks are getting ready to hatch...they may even hatch this weekend! You can always check in over the weekend with our live links to see the progress! Don't worry if you see one hatch early, they are born with enough food (from the yolk) to survive for quite awhile before being moved to the brooder. Once most of the chicks hatch, we'll move our camera over to the brooder to check in on them!

  Mrs. Girouard's Chick Cam

  Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Looking Ahead: Embryology in the Classroom!

WCAX's "Across the Fence" program just highlighted the UVM Extension's 4-H Embryology Program with Martha Manning. Third graders are proud participants in this program and it remains a highlight of the year for many.  Check it out:




We look forward to starting this program after we return from April vacation.

Thanks to WCAX and UVM Extension for providing the link to this video.

A Chick is Born #uvmembryology

This week has been very exciting as 55 of our chicken eggs have hatched.  Here's a video of just one of our chick's making their appearance!

At the end of the week, our cornish cross chicks will be off to farm in Fairfield where they will live happily til the end of their days.

Hatching Chicks!

Over the weekend, the eggs that we've been incubating since May 1st will be entering their final growth phases and may be ready to hatch.  You can keep up on all the action over the weekend and next week LIVE by checking out the following links:

Mrs. Ayer's Webcam

Mrs. Girouard's Webcam

Ms. Poncelet's Webcam

You can download the Ustream TV app to your device, too.  Search for your teacher's name (or Third Grade Chick Hatching) to find our LIVE broadcast.

Live Streaming: 2017 Chick Hatch

Over the weekend, the eggs that we've been incubating since May 2nd will be entering their final growth phases and may be ready to hatch.  You can keep up on all the action over the weekend and next week LIVE by checking out the following links:

Miss Darby's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ayer's Chick Cam

Mrs. Ankerson's Chick Cam

We use "Ustream" which is also an app -- look for it in your online store!

Hatching Chicks: Candling the Eggs

Today, our classes "candled" our incubating chicken eggs to check in on their development.   To candle the eggs, we hold a bright light up to the eggshell and take a peek inside to see the details of the embryo's growth and development.   When we candle, we are looking for a nice clear air cell at the larger end of the egg, veins, and an embryo.  If we look really closely, we might even be able to see the embryo move within the shell -- especially now that they are getting bigger and there is less room in the shell.

We are looking for three different kinds of embryos/eggs.

Winners

Winners are normally developing embryos.  You can clearly see the air cell on the right side of the egg.  The embryo is toward the left (the biggish black blog).  When we candled this particular egg, we could see clearly developed veins all around the shell and the embryo moved quite a bit.  We're expecting this egg (#25) to hatch.

Quitters

This embryo stopped developing at some point in the last two weeks.  In this picture, there is a clear bloodline indicating that the development of the embryo has stopped for some reason.

Yolkers

This egg was never fertilized.  There is no embryo to develop.  The eggs we buy at the grocery store are usually unfertilized eggs. 

We want to take the quitters and yolkers out of the incubator at this stage because we don't want the eggs to crack/break in the incubator or get in the way of the hatching chicks next week.