The hatchlings at the CSU Extension office are preparing to
welcome the light of day — and their debut is open for the world to
see.
The 4-H extension office is coddling more than a dozen eggs in
its newest incubator and soon hopes to welcome a family of chicks
at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. The chicks are part of the
embryology school enrichment program at the extension office, which
for the last six years has provided incubators to area schools as
part of its youth outreach education.
This year the Douglas County 4-H office is bringing the program
to the public with an open invitation for anyone to visit the baby
chicks in the days leading to their first appearance.
The eggs typically incubate for about 21 days but, like most of
nature’s deliveries, their appearance could come a day or two late,
said Mary Baldwin, 4-H youth and outreach agent.
“We’re not quite as good as Mother Nature is about sitting on
the eggs,” she said. “We have to use mechanical means and it’s not
as efficient as Mother Nature.”
Baldwin started out with 24 eggs, a combination of chickens and
turkeys, but a Feb. 23 candling revealed that about half the brood
was not fertilized.
When candling an egg, a light is shined against the shell to
display the embryo inside. Candling is typically done in a dark
room to best illuminate the eggshell.
At the extension office, the ladies restroom and an overhead
projector provide the perfect setting to view the life forming
within the shell.
A fertilized egg is a fascinating world filled with veins and
liquid — and ideally a wriggling form apparent within the confines
of the eggshell.
For obvious reasons, the embryology school enrichment program is
a favorite for area teachers, who say their students show a greater
interest in hands-on projects, Baldwin said. In the classroom, kids
typically earn the right to help care for the eggs as the class
anticipates delivery day.
“Hands-on learning is fun for kids,” Baldwin said. “They
remember so much more about the life cycle when they see it
happening.”
Baldwin and a handful of classrooms will use the extension
office’s new state-of -the-art incubators. Unlike the traditional
Styrofoam incubators, which require constant attention to maintain
the heat and turn the eggs, the digital units sustain a steady 51
percent humidity level and 99.5-degree temperature. The eggs are
automatically turned for optimum hatching and require much less
attention to bring a live birth to the classroom, Baldwin said.
The eggs at the extension office are expected to hatch around
March 4 and the school outreach will begin just in time for some
in-class spring chickens.
Last year’s outreach welcomed the participation of 13 elementary
schools and 28 classrooms. So far this year 11 schools have signed
on, with room for more.
The embryology unit is just one of several options in the youth
outreach program, which additionally has a bug breakthrough — a
desktop unit where students can watch the metamorphosis of a
butterfly, a miniature greenhouse and a multi-cultural
outreach.
The extension office offers the youth outreach to public and
private educators including home-schoolers, after school programs
and off-track recreational programs.
The public is invited to visit the extension office to view the
eggs as they develop, watch the hatching process and visit the
birds once they’re born.
The CSU Extension Office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 410 Fairgrounds
Road in Castle Rock.
For information about the school enrichment programs available
through the Douglas County 4-H Program, visit the Web site at
www.douglascountyextension.com
or call 720-733-6940.
Chicks