The sound of children laughing and playing will soon be matched by baby chicks chirping at Belgrade Avenue Kindergarten.
The students are counting down the days until their chicken eggs hatch.
Belgrade Avenue Kindergarten Educator Michelle Groch said the egg hatching project involved placing fertilized chicken eggs in an incubator, adding water on certain days, turning the eggs and waiting.
“The students have been checking in on the eggs every school day,” she said.
“They are patiently counting down to day 21 when there should be some activity.”
Michelle said the educators had been talking to the children about animals and life cycles but said the project stemmed from the classroom’s vegetable garden and looking at ways to become more sustainable.
The students have decorated a cardboard box which they are using to view the chickens as they grow.
“It’s so we have a dark space for them to candle the chicken, which is when you put light underneath and check the progress of the chickens,” Michelle said.
“They are all pretty excited and I think it’s hard for them to comprehend that there’s actually chickens inside there.”
Michelle explained that from day two each embryo starts to form a heartbeat.
“On day 18 they will go into lockdown and that’s when they have to stay in there and begin to absorb the yolk and get ready for pipping, and then anywhere from day 21 to day 22 they will start to break the shell and come out,” she said.
“The incubator heats them to 37 degrees and keeps them nice and moist while the moisture helps when they are coming out of the shell to help the shell from drying out.”
The hatching process should happen on a school day.
“They can break out from their shell as quick as one hour or it can be up to 10 hours,” Michelle said.
“It just depends because sometimes they have a sleep, they get a bit tired and stop.”
The children are excited to build a home for the chickens once they do hatch.
“The kids will build them a home and they will live here for a couple of weeks and then they will find a new home,” Michelle said.
“The parents are pretty keen, some of them want to take them home.
“We haven’t decided yet but we might do a chicken raffle because we have quite a few families interested.”
Michelle said the project was a great way to involve all the families.
“A lot of them are coming in to check on them with their mum and dad and sharing what they have learnt about them,” she said.
“It’s opening that family communication and getting the parents involved, and some of them are pretty excited to see what’s happening each day as well.”
Watch this space for an update on the arrival of the chickens.
