Students in the Conservation/Natural Resource Management program at the LoGuidice Educational Center recently helped hatch baby chicks and poults.
Juniors and seniors have been learning about incubation and the development process under the direction of Conservation instructor Taylor Beaver and teaching assistant Ericka Tenpas.
The incubation period for the turkey eggs was about 28 days, and 21 days for the chicks. The eggs were kept inside the classroom where they hatched and then kept warm under a heat lamp.
“Bringing poultry into the classroom transforms education into something interactive and meaningful,” Tenpas said. “It shows students that learning isn’t just from a textbook, it’s something they can live and grow with.”
The eggs came from Tenpas’ farm.
Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES previously welcomed baby chicks hatched inside the Small Animal Science classroom at the Hewes Educational Center. The chicks were part of an ongoing lesson on chicks and the incubation process under the guidance of instructor Seth Shields and teaching assistant Alexandria Smith.
“We figured why not give this a try,” Shields said this past March. “We already had all the equipment, so all we had to do was purchase the eggs. We picked out different kinds of breeds that they had available.”
Meanwhile, the Conservation program at LoGuidice recently established its own chapter of Future Farmers of America, an organization for Career & Technical Education students to promote and support agriculture education.
“With our new Future Farmers of America chapter, students are not only learning about agriculture, they’re learning how to lead, serve, and succeed,” Tenpas said. “Raising poults or chicks in the classroom can create exciting learning experiences for students while teaching valuable life skills and making them future homesteaders.”
