The eggs come from a variety of chickens, including Common Brown, Common White, Legbar, Silver Laced, Barnevelder and Buff Laced Wyandotte.
Today marked an exciting stage in the chicken life cycle, as Paul brought in a special torch for us to find out which eggs are fertile. This process is called “candling.” The Squirrels and Hedgehogs gathered in the sleep room with the lights turned off while Bonnie carefully used the torch to look inside each egg.
By shining the light through the shell, we could see whether an embryo and tiny veins were developing. If these were visible, it meant the egg was fertile and could hatch within the next 7–8 days.
The children were fascinated by what they could see and asked lots of thoughtful questions about how the chicks grow inside the eggs. It was a wonderful hands-on learning experience, helping us to understand more about life cycles and how to care for living things.
We are now looking forward to the next stage and will be watching closely over the coming days for any signs of the eggs beginning to hatch. It’s an exciting time in the nursery, and we can’t wait to meet the chicks!