I think that raising animals can be one of the most meaningful (and memorable) experiences for Preschoolers! It is fun and full of valuable learning opportunities. We can discuss animal kindness in detail, and it also gives us a chance for hands-on learning with life cycle science goals. Taking on animals is a big commitment, especially if you chose to keep them at your school or home permanently so preparation is key. Here are a few ideas to help make the adventure successful!
Getting Your Chicks
Fertilized Eggs or Day-Old Chicks?
Fertilized Eggs: While I was teaching elementary school, a first grade classroom had wonderful experiences getting eggs from a farm to watch the hatching process (using an incubator). The chicks went back to live at the farm when they were a few days old. This would be a great option if you can't keep chickens at your location full time.
Day Old Chicks: At my preschool I have decided to go the other route. We raise chicks each year, and keep them at our school as our pets year round. Every Spring we get day-old chicks from a local urban farming store that I love and trust. It is important to get chicks from healthy and humane farms. I have found that day-old chicks are a great experience for my preschoolers, over eggs, because they will live in the school with us for six weeks before they can move outside. Skipping the hatching phase has worked better schedule-wise.
Day Old Chicks: At my preschool I have decided to go the other route. We raise chicks each year, and keep them at our school as our pets year round. Every Spring we get day-old chicks from a local urban farming store that I love and trust. It is important to get chicks from healthy and humane farms. I have found that day-old chicks are a great experience for my preschoolers, over eggs, because they will live in the school with us for six weeks before they can move outside. Skipping the hatching phase has worked better schedule-wise.
Day-old chicks are the cutest! This is a Buff Orpington-my favorite chick to raise.
Where Will They Live?
Baby Chicks are fragile
You can research a variety of ways to house your new chicks :) I have found that the old (and very large) bath-tub in my preschool does the job perfectly! I don't use this tub for showering so it doesn't matter that it will be occupied for six weeks with our new friends.
I line my tub with clear plastic so that the bedding can be lifted out and removed for easy cleaning. Chicks also need a heat lamp and lots of food and water :) All of this fits nicely in my tub. I use a spring curtain rod to hold the heat lamp above my tub. It can easily slide up higher (away from the chicks) as they get older and need less heat.
Making it a Safe Experience
Baby chicks can carry salmonella, so it is important to set up a sanitation plan before getting baby chicks with little kids. All the families at my preschool know we raise chicks before they enroll, and I had to get special permission from the state to let the chicks live in our school for six weeks. BUT, if you are safe, and pre-teach rules, it should be wonderful in every way :)
We set up "chick rules" and hang them on the side of our bathtub. We discuss these a lot, so all the kids know what it says (whether they can read it, or not).
We hold our chicks A LOT as a group! This makes them much more sociable, and friendly, once they move outside. The kids do NOT hold or touch them without me. If we hold them we discuss:
1. Hands away from our face at all times. We keep them in our laps.
2. After we hold them I give the kids hand sanitizer for the walk to the bathroom. Once we are up, keeping our hands away from our face is a little harder for me to monitor, so this makes me feel safer as we wait our turn to get a good wash with soap and warm water.
3. Once we are in the bathroom "I" wash their hands for them. It is important that I wash their hands to make sure we do a thorough job.
1. Hands away from our face at all times. We keep them in our laps.
2. After we hold them I give the kids hand sanitizer for the walk to the bathroom. Once we are up, keeping our hands away from our face is a little harder for me to monitor, so this makes me feel safer as we wait our turn to get a good wash with soap and warm water.
3. Once we are in the bathroom "I" wash their hands for them. It is important that I wash their hands to make sure we do a thorough job.
Enjoy Your Time With Your New Friends!
The kids are going to light up every time they get to interact with the chicks, I promise!
They will learn to hold them gently, and to help take great care of them :)
And, pretty soon they won't be chicks anymore! The kids LOVE the pullet stage...they look funny and awkward and then slowly begin to look like the chickens you'll love getting eggs from.
If you are anything like me, you'll love the chicks just as much as the kids do! I bond with them, hold them, and play with them while the kids aren't here too.
Building a Coop!
Time to Get Creative
I had a lot of fun designing a coop. I had a friend build it for me, so it only cost me the supplies. I was exciting to have a "mini farm" at the school, and modeled my coop after a red barn. I love that it is easy to clean, big enough for the chicks to roam around in before I let them out each morning, and looks appropriate for a preschool!
The big chickens are a different experience for the kids than the chicks are, but are just as meaningful. They love helping collect eggs, and we give them lots of food scraps and treats.
What's Next?!
Anyone have experience with miniature goats? I have been considering raising some along with my chicks :) I have visited several goat farms, and think they would be a great addition to our miniature farm!