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It’s spring and social media is bursting with pictures of baby chicks and the farm supply store troughs are full of peeping chicks! It’s time for Chick Days!
Spring is a great time to start chicks inside under heat lamps and when they are ready to go outside the temperatures will be warmer and more sustainable. The baby chicks will have plenty of time to grow into mature egg layers before fall and the winter months are back upon us.
If you are interested in incubating chicken eggs, check out my Chick Incubation Basics: Equipment and Teaching Resources.
Chickens are a popular livestock animal to raise for several reasons:
- Can be raised while using a small amount of space.
- Provide self-sufficiency, and provide a protein source from your own backyard.
- Low-cost maintenance.
- Easy project to teach responsibility while caring for a live animal.
- Environmental sustainability, learning, and practicing composting of litter waste for use in gardens.
Read more: Backyard chickens gain popularity in 2020. Here’s why
Teaching Kids About Chickens
There are lots of opportunities to teach kids about poultry. Chickens provide humans with a protein food source in the form of both meat and eggs. In fact, some breeds of chickens are bred specifically for their egg production or their ability to produce both meat and eggs (dual-purpose).
It’s important for kids and adults to know where their food comes from. During the pandemic, there was much confusion and misinformation circulating in regard to food scarcity and it has come quite apparent that we need more education about food production from the producer, supplier, AND consumer-facing sides. If you want to listen to a good podcast that touches upon how the pandemic affected food production and availability, listen to The CripesCast Podcast. Charlie Berens, interviews Wisconsin Farmers in Episode 17, and the “Fabulous Farm Babe”, Pam Jahnke in Episode 8. The episodes are thought-provoking and chock-full of information.
So even if you don’t intend to raise chickens in your backyard, poultry may still be an important part of your life in the form of your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Introduction to Chickens
Kids Sonder Agriculture Unboxed, our monthly subscription that educates and inspires kids ages 7-11 to learn about and love agriculture, has a box dedicated to introducing kids to chickens. The box is called Chicken Chat Unboxed!
Lessons include:
- The Chicken Lifecycle
- Parts of the Egg
- Egg Formation Story
- Chicken Terminology
- Common Chicken Breeds
- Basic External Parts of the Chicken
- Chicken Coup Design
- and More!
The Chicken Lifecycle
Not all organisms have the same lifecycle, however, the chicken’s lifecycle will be very similar to other egg-laying birds, domestic and wild. The lifespans, incubation period, and terms may be a little different but the basic lifecycle itself is symmetrical. Good general knowledge to have about the world around us.
The Next Generation Science Standard, 3-LS1-1: Develop models to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have common birth, growth, reproduction, and death, is a science standard for 3rd graders across the country. As a 4-H Educator, we were asked to help orchestrate chick incubation projects in the classroom and provide educational lessons about the chicken lifecycle as a hands-on real-world supplementation to the classroom curriculum.
Parts of the Egg
Did you know that the weird-looking structures when you crack open an egg next to the yolk are actually called the chalaza? They help suspend the egg yolk in the center of the egg to keep it from breaking. No need to pick them out! I didn’t know that until I began teaching the egg parts.
Each part of the egg has a function. Learning the egg parts would be a great supplementary lesson to an egg cooking lesson! In the Chicken Chat Unboxed, I give you the background information you need to teach about each part of the egg and a list of other egg activities you can do with your kids or group.
Chicken Egg Formation Story
The record for egg laying is 371 eggs in 364 days, recorded in 1979 by a White Leghorn chicken at the University of Missouri (Guinness World Records). That’s ridiculously amazing!
Do you know how eggs are formed in the hen’s body? Did you know that all eggs are white but are pigmented as they travel through the oviduct? The color of the egg is determined by the breed of the chicken and the pigment type they possess in its oviduct. All eggs start out white as they are formed and if you look closely at a brown egg, the exterior will be brown but the interior is white. Cool!
Learn more about egg formation in our Chicken Chat Unboxed!
Chicken Terminology
It’s hard to talk chickens if you don’t know the basic chicken terminology. Review the terms and complete the crossword puzzle found in the guide.
Common Chicken Breeds
There is not a true count of all the chicken breeds worldwide; however, the American Poultry Association recognizes 53 large chicken breeds in the United States and several bantams (chicken terminology!). There are “roughly” three classifications of chicken breeds; egg producers, dual-purpose (meat and eggs) and fancy chicken (breeds that are kept as pets or for exhibition (show)). Within each breed, you will find several different varieties or color patterns.
In Chicken Chat Unboxed, I have chosen twelve common chicken breeds you might find in production settings or in someone’s backyard flock, plus two other fancy breeds that are just different and fun. These cards are collected and added to member’s Kids Sonder Agriculture Field Guide.
Each breed has information such as egg color, size, varieties, characteristics, temperament, and origin. All important information to know if you are looking to choose a breed(s) for your backyard flock or just want to know more about the baby chicks you see at the farm supply store or petting zoo.
External Chicken Parts
Did you know that chickens with white lobes typically produce white eggs? Ok, so where is the chicken’s earlobe located? I don’t see any ears!? Teach your kids the basic external parts of the chicken that are used in identifying distinguishing chicken breed characteristics.
I keep it simple and uncomplicated in the Chicken Chat Unboxed Educational Guide!
Whether you are a parent that just wants to expand your child’s knowledge of agriculture and food sources, an educator looking for supplemental classroom activities, or an agriculture advocate/youth volunteer teaching the next generation about agriculture, join Kids Sonder Agriculture Unboxed to expand you child’s knowledge of agriculture!
