One of the coolest things about being farmers in a small town is the connections you build in the community. We're not just selling food, we're feeding our friends. We love that. And we also love helping people learn about sustainable agriculture. So, last year when our friend Amy, a teacher in the local schools, asked if our hens could provide eggs to hatch as a class project, we were stoked. We packed up 36 of the best and brightest eggs we could find and shipped 'em off to school.
The class incubated the eggs, watched them hatch, cared for the fuzzy little chicks, and learned a whole lot about chickens in the process. At the end of the year, the well-loved little birds came back to Defiant Field Farm where they became part of our laying flock. So, when Amy asked if we could do the same thing again this spring, it was super cool to pack up eggs from some of the hens that hatched in her classroom last year and send them back for round two.
And since this will be the second generation of Defiant Field hens to attend school, we can probably claim to have the most highly educated chickens in Northern Wisconsin. We might have to add that to our labels.
We totally forgot to take a photo of this year's eggs before we sent them off to school, but these are last year's eggs on their way to the classroom. The best part: some of these eggs, hatched in the classroom last year, returned to Defiant Field Farm and grew up to be the hens that laid this year's hatching eggs.
Sarah carefully inspecting eggs for cracks and dirt before they go to the incubator.