1N with the hens

We have loved looking after the hens this week. Lots of us have hens at home so we are very knowledgeable.

Every day we have given the hens new food and water. We were really good at keeping the path clean and we found lots of eggs.

Just like 3N we found a ginormous egg...
 ...and when we cracked it open it had 2 yolks!

We weren't sure why it had 2 yolks but we thought it might be that if the egg was fertilised and hatched then twin chicks would come out. If you know the answer then please do let us know.

The hens have had lots of treats from us this week.  We made small parcels filled with seed. The hens had to figure out how to open the parcels to get to the seed which they managed very quickly.

 

As it was Halloween last week we gave the hens a pumpkin and after just one day this what we found...

It had been completely scoffed!



Half Term for the Hens

This was the first half term for our hens and they were in for a quiet week. There were no children in school to pop over and chat to them, so they had to make do with visits from a few willing grownups!

Well that's what we thought, until Monday morning, when workmen arrived to do things around the school and proved to be very interested in the chickens.
They came over and talked to them and chatted to school staff, with helpful advice and ideas. 

Mrs Knight, Mrs Hurst, Miss Neale, Mrs Pattison and Mrs Coles all came in to see them and made sure they had plenty of food and water. Water was no problem, it seemed to rain a lot last week!

We discovered that the hens quite like going out in the rain. They all got soaked through several times and looked very bedraggled, but when the rain was really heavy, they huddled together under a bush. When the sun came out they lined up, with their backs to the sun, drying their fluffy backsides out!

On Wednesday morning, Mrs Coles found a really tiny egg (smaller than a golf ball) in amongst the ordinary sized ones. When it was opened there was no yolk!
                                                     
We had fun at night when putting the hens to bed as the clocks went back on Sunday. We wondered if the hens would mind going to bed an hour earlier.
But it didn't matter, they like to be inside when it gets dark, so trooped happily into their lovely henhouse at dusk.
                                                     

Frittata

 

Year 6 had a smashing time during the last week of this term using the eggs laid by the Wicor hens.  30 eggs were laid during our week, and so we all learnt how to make frittata.  To give it a really 'home grown' feel, we also used peppers and onions from the allotment.  The recipe was:

 

Ingredients:

1 onion (chopped into small pieces)

1 sweet pepper (sliced into small pieces)

4 eggs

100g feta cheese

 

Method:

 

Switch the oven onto 180/160 Fan/gas mark 4.

 

Grease a 16 cm round dish which is suitable for the oven.

 

Slice the onion and pepper, and fry gently in a pan.

 

Crumble the feta cheese in a bowl.

 

In a separate bowl whisk the 4 eggs until fully combined.

 

Tip the eggs, onion and pepper into the bowl with the cheese and mix well.

 

Gently pour into the greased dish and bake for 30 minutes until golden around the edges and the egg is set in the middle.

 

Cut into portions, eat with a side salad and enjoy.

 

 

 

Everyone ate a portion of the frittata they had made straight from the oven.  Delicious!

 

 



6N Has The Reins

It's our turn to look after the hens and we quickly identified our hen as the one with the black tag.  Unfortunately, she still remains nameless but not for long as the naming ceremony is soon.  We loved the hens because they are so soft and sometimes they let you pick them up (although Brandon has to chase them a bit first....).  In the end we had over 30 eggs laid in our week, and we will be cooking up frittata over the next few weeks using vegetables from our allotment as well.

We went out twice a day to keep them entertained - we did try singing and dancing, which they appreciated greatly.  We can't wait for our turn again. 

Happy laying ...

3N's week in the hen house

We were very excited when it was our turn to look after the chickens.
Every day a group went to look after them.  We had to feed them and make sure they had enough fresh water to drink as well as clean the hen house.  We also had to check that there were no holes in the fence that a fox could get through.  Most importantly we had to check for eggs.

Even the hens wanted to help clean up!

Topping up the water.

Cleaning the hen house out.

Our ENORMOUS egg!

It turned out to have two yolks. 

 

 

We are looking forward to the next time we get to look after the chickens - hopefully they will all have names by then.

 

 

5C have been looking after the hens all week

 Are there any eggs yet?

 Yes there are. We have been collecting 4 eggs a day, 1 from each hen.

 Mrs Coles has shown us how to handle the hens.

 They do like their food!

 Collecting more eggs :-)