Remnant Academy Hatches Chicks

One of the preschool classes at the Remnant Academy took the initiative to expand the children’s learning by having them observe the egg hatching process in class.

The class theme was “Animals” and one of the teachers, Thrina McCarty, has experience with the process. McCarty brought an incubator from her home from which the children could observe the eggs.

Her husband, Daryl McCarty, later loaned The Remnant Academy a brooder from his home to house the chickens. Sara Buehring, a toddler teacher at The Remnant Academy, and Rachael Brown from The Remnant Church donated eggs from their homes. The Remnant Academy purchased a separate incubator to keep in the hallway for other children and families to enjoy.

The Remnant Academy students and staff learned how to identify which eggs were fertilized by darkening the room and holding a flashlight to the tip of the egg. If the light went through the egg, the egg was not fertile and was removed from the incubator. McCarty taught the staff how to properly set the incubator’s heat and humidity settings.

The children of the preschool class had a lot to say about the chicks when asked what their favorite part was. Carter Hill said, “I got to tell my teacher when to feed the chickies.” He also mentioned that he enjoyed showing them off to his family every day. Wade Rhodes enjoyed watching his teachers move the newly born chicks from the incubator to the brooder. Gracen Banks and Roman Veitch said their favorite part was watching the eggs crack. Abigail Gutierrez said her favorite part was seeing a lot of chicks. The kids guessed that there may be anywhere from 80 million to maybe 15 chicks. Ezekiel Owens said that his favorite part is petting the chicks. Kason Schielack and Marek Austin agreed that would be fun, and that the chicks are “soooo adorable.” Georgia Hankins said her favorite thing is watching them grow up, and Nakoa Wilson said “they’re not going to get bigger than us though!” Jennifer Haynie, a teacher in the preschool room, wished to see all of the eggs hatch but enjoyed what came to be known as “the ultrasound” where they shined the light to see which eggs were fertilized.

In the 2017 census of agriculture for Fayette County, the number of farms was at 3,166, with 62 percent being pastureland. Several of the children at The Remnant Academy are familiar with farm life. Many of them are growing up in the country surrounded by farm animals and may even grow up to continue their family’s farm lifestyle. The Remnant Academy loves to make connections between the school day and the everyday lives of the children in their homes.

The preschool class was sitting down at lunch when the first chicks began hatching. The excited calls were heard in the neighboring class and hallway as the children moved around the incubator for a better look. When they made their way to their cots for nap time, they were still sharing their experiences with one another and guessing how the chicks would look when they were born. In total, 16 chicks hatched and are currently awaiting their forever homes with parents and staff of The Remnant Academy.