Barbara Jerabek, Nature Program Coordinator

Returning from winter break, the kindergarteners were excited to be back in the gardenand rushed to the chicken coop to collect the eggs. Squeals of excitement told me there were many to be found: seven small bantam eggs were brought to the tablebe found: seven small bantam eggs were brought to the table.  

As always over a break, we questioned how fresh they were. To tell a fresh egg from a rotten one, we always put them in a pot of water, knowing the rotten ones will float to the top. A big pot of ice cold rain water sitting on the table, and in went the eggs. Three eggs bobbed to the top immediately, leaving four to rise and sink over and over again like lava lamps.  "I’m not eating any of these eggs!" I said, and the students agreed but really wanted to know what a rotten egg smelled like.  I picked out an egg, tapped it on the pot to crack it open and poured it into a cup. All eyes looked into the cup, then back to me, then back into the cup. There was a lump in the cup. The egg had been fertile. The kids, as one, yelled “What is that?”  Calmly I looked at them and said “That was a baby chicken... these eggs aren't rotten! They have chicks in them!” (Click here to see a video of the action!)

We immediately went into recovery mode... I quickly scooped the eggs from the water passed them back to the children with instructions not to drop them and to put them back exactly where they got them... and FAST!! You have never seen such a group of hustling, single-minded kindergarteners! Back into the barn they went, carefully returning the eggs to the nest where Little Mama promptly hopped back on them and nestled in.

My next class heard all the details of the not-so-rotten eggs and set to preparing a special box and place to bury the little guy we had opened before his time. He was buried in the rose garden under our Buddha statue with a really lovely poem at his head.

Of course, everyone  wanted to know if this meant we were actually going to be hatching baby chicks. I really didn’t know: those eggs had been in freezing cold water for almost two minutes. An agriculture expert from Davis told me that a hatch would be doubtful, but that it wouldn’t hurt to let Little Mama keep setting. He also said that any hatch would take longer than the usual 21 days on account of the eggs having been cooled.

We watched and waited and watched some more. Another long weekend came and went. After Martin Luther King Day, I let the chickens out into the big coop. I was relieved to see Little Mama out scratching with the other hens. When a hen has had enough setting and realizes her eggs are not going to hatch, she will sometimes kick the eggs, literally, out of the nest. I entered the still dark barn, peeked into the nest, and saw two eggs on the left and two more way over to the right. Didn’t look very cozy or nest -ike anymore...  I reached and discovered that what I had thought were two scattered eggs were actually two half eggs... and still gooey. Sometimes a hen will break her eggs after setting awhile, so I assumed that Little Mama had broken hers. That’s when I heard the unbelievable “peep peep"! I was shocked! A full seven days after the due date and here was a chick!

It was too dark to see so I felt around the nest until I came across a not-yet-fluffy but not-very-wet little chick. It was still very warm, which told me that Little Mama had not jumped ship but was just grabbing a bite to eat. I decided to do an egg count to be sure there was not more than one. There was one chick and two eggs. There should have been three more eggs somewhere in there! I sifted through the hay but still only came up with the two un-hatched eggs and the new little guy. Knowing that rats occasionally visit the coop, I assumed the worst. This really got me moving! I went out to the yard, chased poor Little Mama down, and returned her to the nest and the baby to stand or sit guard.

My next class, Kelly Alexander’s 4B students, were just arriving. I gathered them round and told them in my “not to be messed with voice” that we had a true emergency on our hands. I gave them the speedy-quick version of finding the chick” and told them what we needed to do:

1.  Someone had to run to their classroom and ask the teacher if she would host Little Mama and her brood in her classroom?

2.  Four or five students were needed to drag out the pieces of the old rabbit hutch.

3.  Two more were to look for bolts or something we could use to put it back together.

4.  Someone needed to get cardboard from recycling so the chicks wouldn't fall through holes in the hutch.

5.  Several children were sent to get newspaper to line the hutch and find saucers for food.

6.  We decided to put a box on its side inside the hutch for "privacy" so a couple of children began scavenging the garden for a good box.

All this needed to be done quickly before the chick became another meal for a predator! You would have been so proud to see how your kids mobilized and rose to the occasion. They pretty much self-organized, splitting into groups to run and get supplies, search for nails (ended up using zip ties!), figure out how to assemble the hutch (lots of lining up of holes), squaring it all so that it wouldn't wobble and the pieces would fit, standing guard over the chick... they had it all covered. In 45 minutes, we had the hutch assembled, in the classroom, and ready to go.

Actually transferring the mother, her now very fluffy chick, and the two remaining eggs was another carefully executed operation. One brave person held a not-too-happy and slightly panicked Little Mama with her wings down so she wouldn’t try to fly to her chick. This person was also responsible for speaking in a soft reassuring voice as they carried Little Mama upstairs. She was always within site of her chick which I had the coveted job of holding. Another student had the super delicate job of carrying the two un-hatched eggs exactly as we found them up into their new nest with out jostling them. One quick-acting student ran back down to the garden and grabbed anything they could find that was soft and dry to put on the newspapers to soften the nest area. 

We did it!  Little Mama rearranged the eggs in her nest,then pulled the little chick under her, all the while making noises that sounded like she was part purring and part scolding the chick for being absent. 

Two days later, Kelly and Monica (5B)  peeked in on the chicks and noticed another broken egg, but didn't see a chick. But the next morning, there wase more peeping than one chick could make and sure enough -- there was baby chick number two!

The students couldn't have been more excited! They agreed on two really appropriate names:

Boo! was our first big surprise, hence the name! Boo! is dark black with some hints of red. We can thank Pepper his dad for the black and red coloring. Chick number two is various shades of gray and soft rust and was given the name of Dusty. Perfect!Dusty is a combo of the white and gray hens and has Pepper’s red collar.

Egg number three still just sat. We had high hopes and knew not to give up on it yet. At this point, it had the misfortune to be named “Dude without an E”.  Yes, Dud!  Should it hatch, we planned to restore the “e”.

There has been much discussion on the family dynamics of this little group. Little Mama hatched out our two little white hens several years ago. The two white hens then laid these eggs, but didn’t want to set on them. Little Mama as the biological grandmother took over setting on them until they hatched and is now raising them. When Little Mama scolded the chicks for wandering off too far, some of the kids were adamant that she was being too rough and that we should get their “real mothers” to take care of them. Wow. Good discussion about birth/biological parents and the role of adoptive parents or guardians who keep them safe and raise them. Who knew all this discussion would come from some little off-season random eggs.

I am so, so proud of 4B and all who rose to the occasion of helping Little Mama and her babies. They really came together in such a great way.  

Once our little 4B chicks started to feather out a bit and the weather took a turn for the wonderful, back outside they went. Sadly, “Dude without an E”, our last little egg to hatch, just never did.  But thanks to all our little RDS carpenters, Little Mama, Boo and Dusty are thriving in their own suite within the chicken coop. And visitors are welcome! The students have installed two viewing areas: one blue bench and one fabulously refurbished wooden chair. (Watch only, please! Although everyone wants to cuddle the chicks, it is only fun for the person, not so much for Little Mama or her babies!)

Keep checking in to watch those babies grow.  You won’t believe how quickly they change!