Lending Library Patron Featured Project

For decades, chickens have been used in learning spaces like 4-H and agriculture classrooms, but one local educator explored how they could use chickens as a tool to teach about empathy.

Heidi Blanchard is an educator at Bridges Program, an alternative school in Corvallis. She teaches social-emotional growth skills to students from a wide range of grade bands.  Earlier this year, Heidi became an Educator Lending Library patron. While browsing the online catalog, she came across an egg incubator and was inspired to take on a bold new project with her students: hatching chicken eggs. Heidi is no stranger to raising chickens. After hatching chicks with her own kids, she knew how exciting the experience would be for her students.

Chick hatching is a 21-day process, and Heidi incorporated daily lessons. “Every day, we would have a candling time. We would look at a chart of what the egg should look like each day to learn about the development of an egg.” 

An egg incubator is a natural blend of science and ethics when used in the classroom. Among lessons of animal welfare and the responsibilities of caring for living things, Heidi used the opportunity to teach on one social-emotional topic that is unavoidable: life and death. “They learned about the whole hatching process. The kids, when they were watching the hatching process, there were tears. Some kids struggled with social-emotional growth and being gentle, and they were crying, saying this was one of the best days of their lives. It felt like we were at a birth.” 

From the moment the project started, Heidi was intentional about giving the students plenty of warning about the realities of this project and preparing them for both the best and the most unfortunate outcomes. Centering the discussion around farm life, the class talked about the possibilities of none of the eggs hatching or newly hatched chicks passing away. 

“We did have one funeral, which was very sad and emotional, and the kids ran the funeral. They had a little sermon and made a cross that says ‘RIP Chicken Tender’ and had this little box, and we picked flowers and put flower petals over the box, and dug a hole. We had a whole little ceremony for the chick. I think that was a really meaningful experience for them to learn about life and death,” said Heidi. 

The surviving brood will be cared for in a backyard setting over summer break and return to Bridges in the fall. While prepping for the project, Heidi sourced a used coop that will be restored and become the centerpiece of a chicken run at the school. Some of Heidi’s returning students will be tasked with the daily care of the flock as an additional opportunity to practice their blossoming social-emotional skills. 

“Right now we’re in the process of taking the chicks out two at a time and letting them play on the grass with us sitting around and letting them peck at the grass and get little bugs and things, and they love it,” said Heidi.

Heidi’s Recommendations for Recreating this Project: 

  1. Source materials used and local – Heidi used community resources like Facebook Marketplace and Facebook’s Corvallis community pages to obtain (donated) fertilized eggs and a used coop. 
  2. Have a plan for the hatched chicks ahead of time – Make sure you have a brooder and feed on hand for when your chicks hatch to make the transition seamless and stress-free. Also be sure to have a plan for where the chickens will live after they outgrow the brooder. If you can not care for the chicks beyond the brooding stage, there are local farms and backyard agriculture enthusiasts that are happy to take chicks off your hands. You can find new homes by calling local farms and networking on social media. 
  3. Have the hard talks – It’s important that you plan to tackle the difficult talks around life and death with your students at the beginning of the project. This helps students emotionally prepare for both the best and worst outcomes.
  4. Feel confident going in – YouTube is a wealth of information. Before starting this journey, make sure you know what you’re getting into and get some tips from experts. These are a few videos the MVSCH team recommends.
    1. From Incubator to Chick: Nailing the Egg Hatching Process – The Happy Chicken Coop
    2. 14 Steps to Hatching Chicken Eggs – Complete Beginner’s Guide 2026 – Mississippi Farm Homestead
    3. How to Candle Chicken Eggs! What We Look For and What to Avoid – Greenfire Farms

Additional Resources

  • Educator Lending Library patrons have access to egg incubators to check out at no cost. Coming in time for fall term, a brooding kit will be added to the Lending Library collection, giving patrons everything they need to get started, except for fertilized eggs, chick feed, and bedding.
  • Videos about chicken embryos can be a great supplement for students learning while caring for the unhatched chicks. Paired with a Chick Life Cycle Exploration set, it can also be a low-maintenance alternative to hatching eggs. 
  • The Magic School Bus has an episode about the science of chicken eggs and is a suitable option for introducing young students to life science concepts. 

 

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