School Hatching Projects
Throughout Australia, many thousands of baby chickens and ducks are born in pre-schools, kindergartens, secondary schools, aged-care facilities, libraries, and even your local Bunnings. Companies deliver fertilised eggs as an attempt to teach children about life cycles. These are commonly referred to as “hatching projects” because they involve watching birds hatch from their eggs. These projects are popular because they offer people the opportunity to witness “the miracle of life”. While students may be enamored by their cute fluffy feathers, hatching projects come at a cost. As Edgar’s Mission explains, “you don’t need to meet a dinosaur to learn about dinosaurs” [1]. We don’t need to see birds be born to learn about life cycles.
The Issues
“From what I have read of chicken hatching projects, these have too many uncertainties with regard to the welfare of the animals concerned, and their subsequent fate, to outweigh whatever educational purposes they are supposed to serve”
Hatching projects are designed to teach students about life cycles, but they remove the most important part of a newborn animal's life: their mother.
For a chick, their mother is their most important role model [2]. In natural environments, hens turn their eggs up to 96 times a day before her babies are born [3]. For about 3 weeks, she uses her body, feet and beak to move each egg carefully and precisely to maintain proper temperature, moisture, ventilation and humidity [4]. In a hatching project, none of these important needs are met.
While they are in the egg, embryonic chicks respond to the sounds their mother makes or warning cries they hear from roosters [5]. They learn their mothers voice [6]. A few days before they hatch, chicks begin to chirp so that the hen and their siblings know they are ready to emerge from their shell and be born [7]. When they hatch, chicks “memorise the characteristics of the first moving object they encounter” in a phenomenon known as “imprinting” [8, 9]. In a hatching project, embryonic birds hear the noises of a classroom instead of their mothers. When they finally hatch, they are in an artificial environment, surrounded by bright lights and curious children when the one they need the most is their mother.
After they have hatched, their mother teaches them the most important lessons in life: what to eat, where to rest and how to act when they are in danger. Chicks brought up without a mother don’t have a chance to learn any of these important things. They become more fearful and develop more behavioural issues [10]. When birds are born during hatching projects, none have a chance to learn the lessons that make a chicken a chicken. Instead, they have fulfilled their purpose as an educational tool.
Animals aren’t disposable
Hatching projects promote the view that animals are disposable objects rather than the sentient individuals they are. They encourage children to see no problem with bringing baby animals into the world without consideration for their welfare, their future or their ongoing needs. This means they may be more likely to perpetuate other problems, like the breeding and sale of puppies or kittens, later in life [11].
Unwanted Animals
Hatching projects present ongoing problems for sanctuaries, animal welfare organisations and other rehoming groups who are then tasked with providing animals with forever homes after they are abandoned after the project ends [12].
Most of the chicks born during hatching projects are returned to the company, though some are kept and sold privately. Those that are sold are not traced by the companies and there is no system in place to ensure their welfare. For example, one company explains that most are sold as unsexed chicks directly to hobby farmers, are kept by the company to be sold as layers at a later age or are sold to “people who like to raise their own healthy free-range poultry to eat” [13]. Another boasts that “our hens are generally excellent layers” [14].
Many local councils, however, have strict policies about keeping chickens in suburban areas [15]. Many of these prevent people from providing a safe haven for ducks or roosters [16]. As approximately 50% of the birds born during hatching projects are roosters, this is a significant welfare issue [17]. Roosters provide farmers with no income, and as a result, most male birds born during hatching projects are abandoned. Some companies offer a paid pickup service to collect unwanted birds at the end of a project, but don’t explain what their fate will be when they are [18]. This leads schools or concerned parents to contact organisations like Animal Liberation or sanctuaries for support. Unfortunately, sanctuaries receive so many requests to take unwanted roosters, and it isn’t always possible.
What Other Countries are Doing
In America, the Animal Law Committee has proposed amendments to legislation prohibiting hatching projects. This is because they teach students “an inhumane lesson”, “expose birds to harm”, pose potential health risks and lead to the abandonment or death of unwanted baby birds [19].
Alternatives
Chicken hatching projects can easily be replaced in a range of ways. Educators can choose to use video presentations or model kits that do not cause the significant welfare issues that hatching projects currently do.
Image: Modern Teaching Aids
What Are We Doing?
We believe that the NSW Schools Animal Care and Ethics Committee (SACEC) should ban hatching projects in schools. The Code of Practice under which they operate (The Australian code for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes) maintains that alternatives must be used if they are available. We have drafted a template that you can use to send to schools or other places that have or plan to use hatching projects. Please email our Humane Education Officer for access to this document today. Animal Liberation also collaborates with community members who have concerns about hatching projects in schools and child care facilities in their area.
What Can You Do?
You can help chicks by educating others and raising awareness about the welfare issues associated with hatching projects. You can also contact us, if you are concerned about a school, child care centre, or any other place has or plans to use a hatching project. We can provide you with access to a template, advice and any support you or your community needs.