Hatching chicks in school is such a fun, engaging project! Your students will LOVE the experience, and you’ll probably really enjoy the project, too. Chicks take 21 days to hatch. Once you receive the eggs, you have a little bit of “wiggle room” to best suit the needs of your classroom.
Chick eggs can stay at room temperature without starting to develop for a few days. Nebraska Extension quotes six-seven days at room temperature is ok (click here for the whole article). With this multiple-day “wiggle room” you have some flexibility to maximize in-class experience for your students.
I tend to place my eggs in the incubator on a Tuesday. After 21 days, the eggs would ideally hatch on a Tuesday. If, for some reason, they hatch early, we are still in school on Monday. If they hatch a little late, we will be in school on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, too.
I also really like this plan because Friday is our firm date. Any eggs that haven’t pipped, hatched, or shown any proof of life, get safely discarded on Friday. This allows me to clean the incubator before leaving for the weekend. The incubator airs out and can be stored away on Monday.
This timing also allows the chicks to fluff up for a day or two in the incubator before we move them to the brooder. Students have a few days to play and interact with the chicks before a student’s family generously takes the brooder and baby chicks home for a chick sleepover for the weekend.
Another thing to consider when hatching chicks in school is the time of year to best complete this project. I suggest the spring because we tend to dive into our life cycle unit at this time. Often, we observe caterpillar metamorphosis around the same time. With this also being a 21 day cycle, students are able to compare and contrast the development of the animals. I also ensure that the butterflies will be released into a warm climate to ensure their survival, so spring works well. In addition, when the chicks go to their forever home, it is easier if the temperatures outside are warmer so that they need less additional heat sources such as heat lamps.
We tend to start our chick hatching the week or two after spring break in April and send them to their forever homes a week or two before school ends in June. This has worked really well for us!