Spring, the ideal time for the project I had in mind for some time. As we preferred duck eggs, it was absolutely important to increase our flock of egg-laying ducks.
Ducks are easy poultry to raise, even for a beginner. Resistant to diseases, in capricious weather, ours slept this mild winter, outside and not because they had nowhere to sleep, but because they wanted to. Don't need high pens, just a small place to bathe.
Many farmers complain that spoil the water and feed, but with UpToDate Farmer automatic feeders and drinkers we have eliminated this issue as well.
Therefore, "Duck Egg Incubation" became the children's project. The first real knowledge of medicine would take shape now.
I ordered an ovoscope on Amazon to allow them to follow their progress, ordered the eggs online and bought the incubator from a locale store. I was only interested in measuring the humidity and temperature, turning the eggs could be operated by children, with care, one more reason to make them responsible.
The eldest girl, D, 12 years old, was responsible for the project. I preferred to operate on one child because in general, when there are more, one is left in charge of the other and in the end the work remains unfinished.
I put the incubator's instruction manual in his hand, which he read in its entirety, and she made a notebook where she wrote down his daily tasks and checked them.
Ready. We can start !
With fertilized eggs and one responsible girl, nothing is easier. In fact, the incubator would do all the work, D just turned the eggs (3 times/day), followed the temperature, humidity and evolution with the ovoscope.
With the ovoscope, you can see the first heartbeats, the blood vessels, then, how it gradually takes shape. 27 days of waiting followed, but the end was spectacular.
One morning, 3 days before Easter, the children ran in a "mummy, daddy noises from the incubator, the ducklings have escaped!".
We jumped up and down and planted ourselves in front of the incubator. The eggs were broken, but not a single bud had the courage to take the first step. After a few hours, the first duck appeared and in the next 24 hours they all came out.
The enthusiasm of the children was maximum, my words do not have the power to reproduce it, but they will most likely remember this project for the rest of their lives, which brought so much magic to their lives. 20 colorful, fluffy and healthy puffs!
What lessons do children learn from this project?
1. The life cycle starting from an embryo; The ovoscope allowed the visualization of each stage of development: the heartbeat, the formation of wings, legs, head, etc.
2. Patience – nothing valuable happens overnight. It takes patience and perseverance;
3. Responsability;
4. Loss – Had 2 perfectly formed chicks in the egg but died before hatching. Assuming the loss and accepting it is a lesson imported by life.
5. Never say "NO" to projects that seem difficult. With ambition and perseverance, anything can be achieved. There are no limits!
I am also attaching below the materials that were the basis of our lesson:
Here is the evolution of the duck egg under the ovoscope, from the first day to the end
Evolution, with the necessary argumentation starting from the embryo stage.
