Project Hatch at FWCD
Fort Worth Country Day’s Lower School science classes are studying the lifecycle of chickens, which includes watching eggs from the beginning of the incubation process to hatching.
Fort Worth Country Day's Lower School Science classes are studying the lifecycle of chickens, which includes watching eggs from the beginning of the incubation process to hatching.
The incubation cycle began on March 14 and takes 21 days until hatching, so we expect to see hatching activity around April 4.
See live stream below:
4-H Silkie Chick Hatch over Spring Break
Last year over Spring break, Fort Worth Country Day welcomed 23 newly hatched 4-H Silkie chicks! FWCD 4-H had 23 healthy hatchlings from 29 Silkie eggs that came straight from the FWCD coop, thanks to a special collaboration between Lower School Science Teacher Barbara Meyers and the FWCD JK-12 4-H Club. The hen and rooster parents were shown by FWCD 4-H members at the Fort Worth Stock Show earlier this year. These chicks will stay in the brooder box for about two weeks, and when bigger, they'll go to FWCD families who want to raise them at home. After about eight weeks they can join the Falcon Flock at the FWCD coops if they like.
Silkies are a special breed of chicken named for their soft, satin-like plumage. Silkies are rare and unusual; with blue earlobes; docile temperaments; and black skin, meat and bones. The FWCD 4-H Club has traditionally purchased day-old silkies, but the cost can be prohibitive. To allow the youngest Poultry Club members an opportunity to raise these calm and manageable birds, Meyers and 4-H representatives decided to attempt to hatch our own for the first time! Don’t miss the livestream for all of the excitement. Longtime FWCD 4-H member Judson Tighe ’25 is assisting with the technical aspects of the hatch with the School’s communications and IT Departments.
Membership in the 4-H program is open to all Fort Worth Country Day students from junior kindergarten through grade 12. Visit the Beyond the Classroom section to learn more about the FWCD All-School 4-H Program. You can also follow FWCD 4-H on Instagram.
