Hatching a Plan

Our students have had a very exciting spring preparing for our new feathered residents at Blue & Silver Farm! From tending to egg incubators to building brooding boxes, nesting boxes, roosts, and a chicken run, from Kindergarten to Grade 12 it has been a team effort to get everything ready!

In April, students in Junior Kindergarten and Grade 2 hosted the two incubators, carefully monitoring each day for changes. After a few weeks, our students were thrilled to discover that the baby chicks had begun to hatch! All of our primary school students had the opportunity to learn about our chickens as they watched them grow under the heat lamps in their classrooms.

In the meantime, our Grade 8 students in the design & build class began working on plans with our Grade 9 & Grade 10 students in the ESL Boarding Academy to construct a chicken coop at Blue & Silver Farm. As a first step, they visited a local farm to observe the chicken farming setup. Students learned a lot about raising healthy and happy chickens and had the chance to ask questions that sparked ideas for their projects. Together they:

• Built and re-enforced the chicken run (prefabricated)

• Graded the run to allow for ease of installation and drainage

• Installed protective metal mesh barriers to keep out predators

• Completed coop features:

- installation of nesting boxes

- roosting bars (prefabricated/found objects)

- chicken swings

- mirror (re-claimed items)

- educational turtle carvings

The students also collaborated with the Grade 1 class to envision a fun, creative space for the chickens to spend their outdoor time including a ramp, castle bath, swings, artwork, and other repurposed design elements. Their coop has also been outfitted with the latest technology that allows us to control the door to the chicken run remotely, using an app.

These newest members of the PC community have been given names by our Junior School students, after they submitted their suggestions to a draw. Our first little chicks are named: Goldie, McPuffster the Great, Cherry, Dorothea, Chicky, Gem, Goldie Flocks, Pinky, Willow, Cheeky, and Mr. Banana.

In late May, the chicks moved to their new home at Blue & Silver Farm. They appear to be enjoying the space and the freedom they have to be inside or outside and all of the features of their new home.