Seven newly-born chicks have become internet hits after amassing more than 12,000 clicks on a school website in just two weeks. Pupils at Solihull School’s junior school set up a webcam before the end of term to live stream the moment their chicks hatched from eggs which were being incubated in a science room.
It was part of an educational programme called Living Eggs, designed to teach the Solihull pupils about the life cycle of chickens. The novel introduction of a webcam also meant the impact of the lesson went way beyond the classroom.
Head of Solihull’s junior school Mark Penney said: “The idea was to incubate the eggs over a period of two weeks and watch the chicks hatch. Obviously, we didn’t want to miss the moment, so we set up a webcam to record the births and then set up a live stream so people could tune in from outside of school, too.
“It proved an extraordinary success, with some exciting footage of the chicks actually being born. They were adorable and the children really loved looking after them, so it was an extremely rewarding and informative experience. There was an excellent response from beyond the school gates, too, with more than 12,000 views of the live stream, which is quite remarkable.
“All the chicks we hatched have made a flying start to life. In fact, they’ve now flown the coop and are being raised by the family of one of our pupils.”
