Our Goals
We aim to provide hands on learning in a supportive environment to encourage resilience, and problem solving, while providing opportunities to learn intrinsically. These can be onsite, in a classroom, office, or at your home. Check out the website to see what we have to offer.
Learning with Chickens
Hands on experiences
Available from Mid August to late March
Options:
Hatching Chicks:
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Hire of incubator for 5 weeks $50
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Hire of incubator, brooder, feeder, water, heater – incubator for 5 weeks, brooder for two weeks (can be extended if necessary) $100. You will probably not want to have the chicks in a brooder for more than a week or two in a school or home environment – Your Neighbour's garden will/can take them and raise them.
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Meet and Greet with the Girls - we can bring in adult chickens (and babies if we have any available) to your premise and you can learn all about them. A one hour session for $50. Created around your needs.
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Chicken eggs come in many different shapes and sizes. Learn more about what a "Fart" egg is?
What is in an egg? Do you know what a Chalazae is?
There is much excitement when the eggs start to hatch. Have you ever seen an egg pip?
Use our ova scope to see inside the egg. How do you tell it is fertilised? What does candling an egg mean?
After chicks hatch they go into a brooder until they are big enough to live outside. What does a chick need to survive once it is out of the egg?
All About Eggs:
Eggs are brought to you and we look at them in-depth. A range of experiences are available dependent on your interests. We recommend this with the Meet and Greet opportunity. $50 per hour. We can also include a cooking with eggs session with this package.
Other services
In class/home instructions hourly rate $50
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Curriculum lessons plans – dependant on classroom needs
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Fertile egg options
a) You can get some provided by a local farmer/parent/friend and then return the chicks to them when you need too.
b) We can purchase eggs for you to hatch and then take the resulting chickens and raise them to sell as Pullets. We can also humanely deal with any cockerals.
Pullets – If you are interested in having chickens in your school garden or you have parents who would like some, we can provide soon to lay pullets at a market rate.
Things to think about:
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Hatching eggs in an incubator is an exciting thing to do with children. It is a good way to support them being patient, i.e. it takes 21 days for a chick to hatch. It also provides students with an understanding of the development of a bird. However, you need to be prepared to approach this opportunity with an understanding that things can, and do go wrong sometimes. The saying “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” is very real and even if you see an embryo in the egg, that doesn’t mean that they will grow into a chicken.
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When the chicks hatch they need to have fresh water daily. When chicks are small you can not leave them on their own for a few days. Plan a time that you won't be away for the weekend.
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Make sure there are no power cuts due when incubating or brooding chickens
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If you get your own eggs, you need to have a plan to
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A) Deal with any roosters and
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B) Know what you will do with the baby chicks when they begin to get too big for the brooder. They do get smelly and their brooder does need to be cleaned out periodically.​
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If you want to raise chickens for eggs you need to be prepared. They require suitable shelter, food and water. You will also be waiting until they are around 6 months old before you get that first egg. Having chickens for eggs does not make eggs cheaper. By the time you purchase food and look after them, their eggs are comparable with shop purchased eggs. However, you know where your eggs come from and if we have another egg crisis you will at least have some available for yourself.
Why Hatch Chicks?
Hatching chickens is an achievable way to see the development of an animal through its life stages. It brings the country to the town, so to speak, and also provides knowledge of our food and where it comes from. It also acknowledges the effort it takes to produce food and can engage us in discussions of ethics, choices and food security.
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Yes, we could read it in a book, watch a video or listen to a PowerPoint presentation. However, hands on experiences provide more in-depth understanding and engages us in such a way that we don't even know we are learning. It is more likely to motivate us to develop further knowledge, becoming intrinsic life-long learners in the process.
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You may be hatching chicks because you want to have fresh eggs. This is a great way to learn everything you need to know about chickens. There is a lot to learn and experience before you get your first egg. Let us help you on your journey.