Some Bradford West Gwillimbury kindergarteners are getting tiny, fuzzy and chirping surprises just in time for Easter.
The quail eggs being kept in a classroom at Chris Hadfield Public School started hatching this week, with five or six yellow and black baby birds pecking their way out of their shells.
“The birds were chirping like crazy. You can typically see the beak first,” said teacher Kate Centracchio, adding one of the birds came out foot first. “It kind of ninja’d its way out.”
The baby quails, which came from a BWG hobby farm, will stay in the class until next Friday to help teach the kids a variety of lessons — from math (how many eggs hatched), natural life cycle (how do the birds fit in the eggs and grow), and how to care for the birds and distinguish between them using their markings.
Centracchio said most of the quails will go back to the hobby farm, but she will keep two of them on her parents’ farm in Melancthon, northwest of Shelburne, and bring them back once a month until the end of the school year to show the kids how the birds have developed.
The class has been looking after 36 quail eggs in an incubator, and as they hatch, the birds will be moved to a brooder box — a large plastic tub fashioned with wood chips in the bottom, food and drink areas, and a heat lamp on top to keep them warm.
When the birds first hatch, they are “really wet,” Centracchio said. “They kind of have spiky hair. Their eyes are not open and they’re kind of lethargic.”
Once they get more energy after the tough job of cracking through their shells, they open their eyes and start moving around more.
“They get a little bit fluffier and a lot more active,” she said.
The classroom even has tablet in the brooder box so the birds can see themselves on a “selfie camera.”
While the birds do not have individual names yet, the students have come up with a “huge list” of them to choose from once all the birds have hatched, Centracchio said, noting some of the suggestions include the school’s namesake Chris Hadfield, Quaila, Astro, and Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price.
Centracchio said she plans to take the birds home with her to take care of them during the Easter weekend, but next week they will be back in class, where the kids are thrilled to see their new friends.
