May 20, 2008

WOODSTOCK, N.Y. -- Egg-hatching lessons, which are used as part of classes on life cycles, are one of the most popular science projects in elementary schools across the country. But Animal Welfare Groups call them irresponsible and inhumane.

“They (the children) get to see the whole real thing and I think it’s the best way to teach it. I’m always amazed by it myself,” said Pat Torpie, a fourth grade teacher at Columbus Elementary School in Thornwood, N.Y.

Matt Curran also utilizes the egg-hatching project to teach his fifth graders at Kensico School in Valhalla, N.Y. “It’s a pretty neat project. It starts (in the) morning, picking up eggs. We bring them back to the classroom, (where) we have incubators that are set up already, and basically for three weeks, the kids observe the eggs as they develop over 21 days.”

Both teachers collected eggs for their students through the Westchester County 4-H Incubation and Embryology Project, which is part of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. During the spring of 2007, the projected hatched about 1,300 chicks in classrooms throughout Westchester County, as well as the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

This year, almost 200 dozen fertilized eggs are again heading to classrooms around the county. If all goes well, in about three to four weeks, the same number of healthy chicks will be born. But the incubator is no match for a mother hen.

According to Jenny Brown, founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, “the egg hatching projects do not mimic what happens in nature with a mother and her babies. She turns them more frequently (and) can regulate their temperature.

“Oftentimes (the eggs) are neglected and starved. They are not given water or the attention they need, and so they suffer.”

The teachers, however, say their success rate – the number of chicks born healthy – is about 75 percent.

“Unfortunately we have had chicks that hatched, but were not formed properly,” says Curran. “It could be that the egg didn’t turn properly (or) maybe the temperature wasn’t as warm as necessary.”

Since there is no veterinary budget, these birds are discarded at the school, but what about healthy ones? A few months ago, rescue workers found a box of abandoned baby chicks next to a garbage can in Manhattan.

“The problem is that it teaches kids to treat these animals like disposable objects,” said Brown.

Nancy Caswell, 4-H community educator, says that she keeps track of where the baby chicks go, and if she discovers they have ended up in a garbage can, 4-H won’t give out anymore eggs to the responsible parties.

Teachers, who participate in the Westchester County 4-H Incubation and Embryology Project, drop the birds at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Lucky for them, it’s a free-range farm, but not necessarily a long-lived life.

“We get calls on a regular basis during the school year from upset parents, (whose) children are devastated when they find out that their chicks are going to a farm, and often the teacher will tell them the truth – that they’re going to be killed for meat,” said Brown.

This tough lesson might come from an out-dated teaching method.

“There are many wonderful alternatives (to the egg-hatching projects) in this day and age.”

If your child’s school is planning egg-hatching lessons, you can encourage them to use alternative projects.

For more information, visit United Poultry Concerns' Web site, UPC-online.org or call 757-678-7875.

If the project has already started, support the teachers in treating the birds well and finding them humane placement.

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