DD's daycare had some eggs delivered in an incubator this morning so the kids can watch them hatch. They're from a company that claims to provide chicken hatching programs as a means of teaching children about life cycles etc. The program is available to schools and daycares all over Aus. I find the whole thing a bit distressing, as I know hens are typically very protective of their eggs, and call me a soft-touch but looking at the pictures of the chick coming out of the shell I could just imagine it looking around for its Mummy! Though the website has this disclaimer.

• Chick Hatching Program
• Egg Hatching Program

Jul 26, 2011 A video of hatching chicks we made for UCanHatchUs. The eggs actually start hatching within 2 days and the whole program is for 12 days. What are chick-hatching projects? School chick-hatching projects, ostensibly designed to teach students about life cycles, involve placing fertilized chicken eggs in. >Chicken Hatching Program is suitable for schools/ kindergartens who are not going to keep the chickens at the school/ kindergarten (2 week duration only).

You are welcome to either keep the chicks or return them at the end of the program where we will place them in our brooder boxes and transfer them safely back to our free-range farmer's nursery. Should you decide to keep them, there are notes included on how to raise them.

Please note once the program ends and you choose this option, we cannot relocate chicks should circumstances change. I wonder what happens to the male chicks at this 'free-range' nursery. Does anyone know more about these kinds of programs, and do you support their inclusion in the classroom? EFS Edited by Relish., 14 May 2013 - 03:49 PM. DDs' school does this.

Chick Hatching Program

The chicks are very well looked after and we have a hen house where some of the chicks will live until they complete their life cycle. The rest of the chicks plus more end up rehomed with families from the school who keep chickens. The male chickens 'go back to the farm' where I believe they are killed. What do I think about it? I think the chicks we get have a lovely life. They are free range pets and get fed all kinds of delicious food. The children learn all about the life cycle and how to care for chickens.

We take turns eating their yummy eggs. I'm not that keen about thinking what will happen to the male chickens but we can't keep roosters. It was an horrific abuse of animals in my DD's vacation care program. I went in to pick DD up from vacation care and found kids running through the playground with baby chicks in their hands. The chicks were being thrown into the air and tossed from kid to kid. One industrious child had pushed a baby chick into an empty water bottle and was tossing it around inside.

You're not supposed to handle baby chicks much at all. They're fragile. I'm sure many of the chicks die.

I'm certain many of the ones in DD's vacation care program would have died within a few days of hatching. I yelled at a couple of the kids (oh yes, I did) then tore strips of the teachers. Still, that's just one example. Even the best case scenario is essentially animal abuse. The male chicks are killed immediately. They're of no use to anyone. Any baby hens that are returned are killed too.

They're already been paid for as part of the program fees. Besides, they're often badly handled and looked after so they'll probably die or be sickly.

Apparently it's routine to dispatch of the ones that are returned. It's supposed to teach kids about caring for animals. Quite ironic really because what it teaches them is how we use and discard animals for our own amusement. Edited by BetteBoop, 14 May 2013 - 04:13 PM. I went in to pick DD up from vacation care and found kids running through the playground with baby chicks in their hands. The chicks were being thrown into the air and tossed from kid to kid.

One industrious child had pushed a baby chick into an empty water bottle and was tossing it around inside. At DS's preschool they are kept in a separate room and the children are encouraged to be quiet when visiting them. They are only allowed to handle them while being supervised one on one by a teacher. I must admit I haven't wondered what happens to them after. I'll ask the staff to find out. DD went through C&K and they had a hatching program there too. The chicks were treated really well, especially as one of the kids had a severe allergy to chickens, so they were only handled occasionally when that little girl wasn't there.

When I went to get chickens for myself, I called the battery hen adoption program in Brisbane and they told me that they also rescue baby chicks from these programs. I got the information about hatching programs from there. It's possibly not accurate for all of the programs that are run, but I bet it's pretty true for most. It was an horrific abuse of animals in my DD's vacation care program. I went in to pick DD up from vacation care and found kids running through the playground with baby chicks in their hands. The chicks were being thrown into the air and tossed from kid to kid.

One industrious child had pushed a baby chick into an empty water bottle and was tossing it around inside. You're not supposed to handle baby chicks much at all. They're fragile. I'm sure many of the chicks die. I'm certain many of the ones in DD's vacation care program would have died within a few days of hatching. I yelled at a couple of the kids (oh yes, I did) then tore strips of the teachers. Still, that's just one example.

Even the best case scenario is essentially animal abuse. The male chicks are killed immediately. They're of no use to anyone. Any baby hens that are returned are killed too.

They're already been paid for as part of the program fees. Besides, they're often badly handled and looked after so they'll probably die or be sickly. Apparently it's routine to dispatch of the ones that are returned. It's supposed to teach kids about caring for animals. Quite ironic really because what it teaches them is how we use and discard animals for our own amusement. That's so not cool. DD and her little friends love and take really good care of their chicks.

When one of them was born with a deformity they fed it by dropper and had a proper little funeral with a grave in the play ground when it died. I can't imagine them ever treating them like that.

I think it says more about the teachers than the children. Our daycare does this, around Easter time each year. The kids absolutely LOVE it.

Only 5-6 kids each day are allowed to hold a chick for a few minutes, so they minimise handling (staff draw up a roster to make sure all the kids get a turn over the 2 week period). The hatching tray is actually kept out at reception, kids are taken into reception area in small groups to see the chicks each day.

Egg Hatching Program

At the end of the hatching period, families can put their name down to take some chicks if they would like. This year, all the chicks were taken by daycare families (male chicks taken back by the organisers). Most families took 3-5 chicks.

In our daycare, it's really well run. We did this in year 4 when I was at school, our teacher kept them once the module was done, I don't think at the time there was a program but he owned the incubators and bought the eggs, we cared for the eggs and chicks upon hatching. I don't see an issue with it. It was exciting to watch a chicken hatch. The world stopped for that. I have fewer problems with it if there's a clear plan in place for the chicks after hatching, like if they're going to be taken home by the teacher.

I think in this case though, they'll be given back to the 'farm'. And as most of you have said - even if the chicks do get adopted, the male chicks get 'taken away' and I'm really not comfortable supporting that.

What I think concerns me most is the wider implications of it - not just what it may teach kids about the disposability of animals but also the supply and demand factor. How many of these programs is too many before they can no longer feasibly be re-homed?

And that's working on the best case scenario that they aren't being killed as soon as the lesson's finished. Edited by Relish., 14 May 2013 - 04:51 PM.

Just to note that in Qld state schools now there are very tight rules about any learning that involves animals (not class pets). So much so that very few state schools now do this egg hatching program. For us to do it we need to complete lots of animal welfare risk assessments and get prior official permission.

We did it at our school a few years ago and we took great care of the animals - the chickens (and rooster) are still proudly living at a staff member's house. (obviously in the chicken coop) The chickens came in for a visit with the kids afterwards. We had a webcam on the eggs watching them hatch all around the school.

What I think concerns me most is the wider implications of it - not just what it may teach kids about the disposability of animals but also the supply and demand factor. How many of these programs is too many before they can no longer feasibly be re-homed? And that's working on the best case scenario that they aren't being killed as soon as the lesson's finished. In our place they are kept in the room of the oldest set of kids who will be in school next year, I'm not sure but possibly these are the ones who bond with them most and end up giving them a home? In which case not sure why they would ever 'run out' - there is a new class of kids every year. The male chick question does bug me. But I think male chickens face that fate in general - not just in this programme.

I'm not sure how it teaches the kids that animals are disposable? Edited by CallMeProtart, 14 May 2013 - 05:36 PM.

Just to note that in Qld state schools now there are very tight rules about any learning that involves animals (not class pets). So much so that very few state schools now do this egg hatching program.

For us to do it we need to complete lots of animal welfare risk assessments and get prior official permission. Childcare centres in QLD do it, my facebook feed was flooded with posts about a month ago from friends who work in childcare centres asking if anyone wants chicks because the chicks from their programs were getting picked up soon. I assumed it was bad news for the chicks because they were going 'back to the farm' and when I was growing up, everything that went 'to the farm' didn't have a happy ending. Just to note that in Qld state schools now there are very tight rules about any learning that involves animals (not class pets). So much so that very few state schools now do this egg hatching program. For us to do it we need to complete lots of animal welfare risk assessments and get prior official permission.

I'm in Queensland. The hatching program took place over the Easter school holidays. Whatever rules are in place, they aren't strict enough.

I don't think the lessons kids learn about animals make the mistreatment of these animals any more palatable. There is also this to look at I went there the other day, Edgar's mission are awesome. A trip to somewhere like that is much more enriching than watching chicks mooch around a fishbowl for a fortnight. I don't see how hatching chicks for 3yos provides anything other than an 'aww, cute fluffy' experience. They did it at DD2's kinder last year and when I dropped her off one morning and the chicks were gone, she asked where they'd gone and a classmate piped up 'to KFC'.

DD1's school did tadpole hatch and release for a local conservation group, which proved very populat with most students. They're animals bred purely to watch them be born, then serve no other purpose.

If that's not disposable I don't really know what is. I agree with PP that there's not much kids will learn watching chicks run around in a fake habitat that they wouldn't learn in a book or on an excursion - the appeal just seems to be the cute factor. There is no plan for these chicks (at daycare) which is a bit sad. They'll go back to 'the farm'. I'm really grateful that they make such an effort to provide the kids with real experiences, it's one of the things I love about the place. Last week they built a camp fire and cooked damper over it! I just wish there'd been some discussion about this one since it involves animals.

ETA - Thanks for the links Lyra, I came across the Edgar's mission one earlier today. The alternatives they suggest are well worth considering. I might send that link to the director.

Edited by Relish., 14 May 2013 - 08:56 PM.