Transylvanian Naked Necks

“What the heck”, you might be thinking? Transylvanian Naked Necks are a breed of chicken. They are hardy, smart and great layers. See them here. I thought I would mention them here as school is about finished for the year and we can get into some more school related topics next year.

We bred them for a number of years when we operated Old Macdonald’s Travelling Farms around Western Australia. They had shock value! People were often critical of the way our chickens looked because they appeared to be missing their feathers and assumed they had been attacked by something in the farm, such as a piglet! We had great pleasure in declaring that the “chickens are not sick, they are Transylvanian Naked Necks and that’s exactly how they’re meant to look”.

Of all the breeds we kept for the farm, the naked necks were one of the most talked about!

Chicks hatching in the lounge and laundry

Was at a friend’s house today and there in her lounge/dining room was an incubator with chicks hatching in it. Peering throught the perspex front was three little wide-eyed boys, all about to turn 4 years old. It was lovely to watch and listen to them. Great entertainment! I was also relieved to see that I am not the only person who hatches chickens in the house!

The laundry had an incubator as well. My friend candled an egg (held a torch to the egg so that you can see the embryo inside). The boys in were awe of being able to see a chick moving inside its egg. Great stuff! Reminded me of why we run U Can Hatch Us – so all children and adults can see this.

New website

Apart from hatching chicks, I have been learning how to design websites. Have been a little quiet lately here as I have been up late each night finalising our website. Please check it out at www.ucanhatchus.com.au. I would welcome any feedback on this website as it is the first one I have ever created and it took me hours!!! Just three months ago it began as a blank page.

Chicks in Pen

The chicks are not really chicks any more – they are now outside in their 2m high pen and now we are waiting for them to start laying us some eggs. My sons keep checking them every day. Luckily we have some older ones so they can collect their eggs for now from the pen next door.

The chickens are called hy-lines and they are bred specifically for laying. We find them to be a very friendly breed and, of course, great layers. We would certainly recommend this breed. People who book our hatching display are allowed to keep some of the chicks (as long as the keeping of chickens is permitted in their council area).

Chicks growing

We let the chicks out on the grass today because my 3 and 5-year-olds wanted to see them run. Well, they ran fast, but luckily we were able to corner and catch them all and place them safely back in their brooder.  My little sons thought it was great seeing their mummy crawl around on her knees, nabbing chicks as they tried to scoot past. They are fascinated by the growth in their feathers as they have almost changed from being covered in down (the fluffy feathers at birth) to having normal feathers. This is all part of the learning process. Because my sons are so young, they are yet to believe me that chickens do not have any teeth!

Chicks Growing Fast

The chicks are no longer on our desk – we have been away for two weeks and our housesitter had to move them out to the shed where they could have more room to run around. The clever little things were jumping out of their pen and roaming around our office. Before we know it they will be laying eggs!

Eggs Hatching on my desk

It was a busy day at U Can Hatch Us – we had some eggs in our office in our house to take photos for this web page – great success. There was a flurry of fluffy activity in the incubator this morning as three chicks had hatched overnight. Our 5 and 3 year olds were very excited when they saw a wet chick emerge before we left for Preprimary and 3-year-old kindy. They didn’t want to get in the car….just wanted to sit and watch this egg become something. Reminds us of how amazing it is for people to see a chick hatch. Simple things in life….

Hatching Chicks in the Classroom

We would like to introduce you to U Can Hatch Us which hatches chicks in your classroom. This is a fun and educational activity which will get your students cracking on many areas of study. We recommend that the students blog their daily activities with the chicks! We are based in Perth, Western Australia.

For Hatching Chicks and Ducks, us out at www.ucanhatchus.com.au.

We would like to help you with your hatching projects as much as possible – so please ask any questions and we will try to help.

Robyn and Rod