If you follow my updates on Twitter, you know that we’ve been having trouble with raccoons decimating our chicken flock. Yesterday the boys and I had a talk with our last two hens – we “invited them to dinner.” All went well, and the final stages were a family event in the front yard – even the little girls wanted to watch. I did point out parts of chicken anatomy and explain things as we went along.
No, I did not take pictures of everything, and even if I did, I wouldn’t post them. I don’t want a shock-blog.
After the plucking and getting ready to start the you-know-what, I said to the assembled children, “And YOU thought school was done for the day!” When we were finishing up the last hen, we discovered something really cool – as a homeschool mom, I was slightly ecstatic:
Obviously, this was a laying hen! I was able to show the children the developing eggs, from the smallest to the final product. The neatest one was the second from the right, where the egg is complete – it just needed a shell! I placed an egg from our fridge on the right for comparison. This is one of the ways we homeschool through our daily events.
Now you know why I discovered my children playing butcher shop with stuffed animals…
What a lesson! I’m afraid that’s a little too much hands-on for me and we do a lot of hands-on learning!! When the coons started getting our chickens and we were down to the final one or two we just gave them away. No thought about anything else!!
Have a good day learning with your children!
I have spent some time this morning reading your blog. I have enjoyed it so much! By the way, your previous comment from Anita…Anita is a “real life” friend of mine. She has been such a dear friend and wonderful mentor.
Ooooh! Creepy good!
I sent your link to some chicken raising friends. Thanks for sharing your science with us!
In all the ways that I’ve studied and taught science (I remember in my preschool 47 years ago when we hatched chicks in an incubator and raised them), I’ve never seen any images of eggs forming. Incredible.
I guess I can see why it’s so rare since mostly, we don’t peek inside such things.
Thanks for sharing. Although I’m squeemish, I’m not really curious. Do one chicken have all those eggs in their different stages of development in her?
Yes – all those developing eggs were from one hen. There were clusters of even smaller immature eggs about the size of a pin head – there must have been 100 of those.
I would love to live on a farm. I am sure it makes for some great Homeschooling Lessons!!
Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop! Have a great day!
That is so cool. I loved the science lesson! Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop!
What an incredible experience to have! I once got to witness the “fixing” of a cat who was pregnant, and holding the tiny babies afterward was an experience I’ll never forget.
Stopping by to say “Hi” from the Hip Homeschool Hop!
I just wanted to introduce myself as the newest member of the HHM team – I’m looking forward to getting to know you!
- Ashley Pichea
@apichea
ashleypichea.com
This is so fascinating! Thank you for sharing! Of course, I had to share this with my two homeschoolers!
Wasn’t homeschooled but I attribute my affinity & knack for the sciences to being immersed in biology every day. Great lesson. One I learned at a young age too.