Chick Journal 2026

Chicks in Junior Infants 2026

Over the months of March and April the class worked extremely hard to fill up the classroom egg with positive behaviour, teamwork and working independently in the hope of getting chicken eggs for the classroom!

28th April

The children responded very well to the news that Farmer Billy was unable to visit due to his busy schedule and could not deliver the eggs to our classroom. Despite the disappointment, there was still great excitement, so we took the opportunity to brainstorm names in preparation for the chicks’ arrival. Each child chose a name they would like to give to one of the chickens.

5th May

Farmer Billy arrived right on time to deliver the eggs! Five chicken eggs were brought into the classroom, along with the incubator. There was great excitement throughout the day, and the children eagerly took turns to observe the eggs.

The children began their countdown to the hatching of the first chick, colouring in the first egg on their countdown sheets. We also practised our handwriting by recording the date the eggs arrived, noting how many eggs we received, and making predictions about how many chicks might hatch.

6th May 

The children began exploring the fascinating life cycle of chickens. They learned how a mother hen sits on her eggs to keep them warm and how, in our classroom, the incubator takes on the role of the mother hen. The children were especially interested to learn about the number 21, as it usually takes 21 days for the eggs to hatch.

They also discovered that when a chick first hatches, it emerges wet after all the hard work of breaking out of the shell, a process that can take up to 12 hours! The children learned that the chick uses a special part of its beak called the “egg tooth” to chip away at the shell. Once the chick is fully dry, usually around six hours later, it can then be moved to the brooder.

Full of new knowledge and excitement, the children then enjoyed a fun cutting and gluing activity where they created the life cycle of a chicken.

7th May 

In the morning time we noticed tiny cracks have begun to appear in two of our eggs. The chicks must have been busy working away inside them through the night!

A special and exciting day in our Infant classroom! Just before big break, the very first egg in the incubator began to hatch. A very special shoutout goes to Naomi, who amazingly spotted the chick moments after it had hatched!

The children were thrilled as they watched the chick on the “big screen” through the visualiser connected to the interactive whiteboard.

As the chick was not fully dry before home time, he/she could not yet be moved to the brooder, but the children still had great fun observing and saying a quick hello to our new friend.

After home time, the first chick was carefully moved to the brooder, where he/she happily explored the new surroundings and discovered where the food and water were kept. Later that evening, chicks number 2 and 3 hatched full of energy and soon joined their brother/sister in the brooder. Then, just before bedtime, chick number 4 also hatched and was moved to the brooder the following morning once fully dry.

The excitement in the classroom continued to grow as everyone eagerly awaited the arrival of chick number 5!

8th May

All 29 infants arrived into the classroom full of excitement, eager to see if chick number one had been moved to the brooder. Little did they know that they would be greeted by not one, but four fluffy chicks happily settled into their new home! School bags were dropped and coats were hung up quicker than ever before as the children rushed over excitedly to have a look. As they gathered around, the baby chicks chirped happily as if saying hello to their 29 new friends!

During the Junior Assembly, Ms. Mullin invited the Junior Infants to share the exciting news about the chicks with the rest of the Junior classes. A huge well done to Daniel, Sadhbh, William, Éabha, Lucas, Conrad, Seb and Donnacha, who confidently spoke all about the chicks and shared some fascinating facts they had learned. They received a huge round of applause, and Ms. Halligan was incredibly proud of the class.

Later in the day, the children learned about the different body parts of a chick and, together as a class, brainstormed six words to describe our fluffy visitors.

To add even more excitement to the day, we noticed that chick number 5 was beginning to get ready to hatch and say hello to us all!

Although he/she had not arrived before home time, everyone left school with fingers crossed that there would be five happy chicks running around the brooder on Monday morning.

11th May

On Monday morning, the class was thrilled to hear that all five chicks had successfully hatched, three boys and two girls! The children were fascinated to learn that chicks with a white spot on top of their heads are most likely boys.

Throughout the day, the children loved coming up to say hello to our fluffy new friends and observe them closely. Today, we were even able to remove the lid of the brooder, giving everyone a better look at the chicks. Some of the children were lucky enough to spot the chicks doing little jumps, which caused great excitement in the classroom!

There was plenty of discussion about what the chicks should be named, and the children are already looking forward to choosing and finalising the names tomorrow.

12th May

We began our morning by choosing names for our five new friends. We placed all of the suggested names into a generator, which picked five names for us. The class then had great fun waiting in anticipation pressing each number to see what names we were given! 

Later, we discussed the four most important things the chicks need each day. The class decided that food, water, heat and love were the four essentials they needed daily. Everyone then had the opportunity to practise their handwriting skills by writing the chicks’ needs into the four boxes, followed by some enjoyable farm colouring.

13th May 

Today, the children reflected on and remembered the exciting day the five eggs arrived in our classroom. We discussed their shape, size, colours, and other features, sharing our observations and memories together.

The children then took part in a drawing activity based on the eggs. Some chose to keep their drawings true to the original colours, while others added their own creative twist. A few children even included the incubator in their artwork. The class really showed off their fantastic drawing skills and creativity throughout the activity.

Later, the children completed another fun activity by gluing their names and their chosen chick names onto coloured paper. They thoroughly enjoyed decorating their work and adding their own personal touches.

The class also put their pencil grip and excellent handwriting skills to the test during a challenging writing activity. The children carefully took their time tracing each word before trying their very best to write them independently. It was wonderful to see the focus and determination they showed throughout the activity.

14th May

On our final day with the chicks, each child had the opportunity to say goodbye to our fluffy little friends. The children loved having them in the classroom over the past two weeks and enjoyed watching them grow from tiny eggs into a happy family of baby chicks. To celebrate our last day together, each table spent time with the chicks saying their final goodbye!