Some kindergarten classrooms around Washington County are watching life hatch before their eyes as part of the Washington County ISU Extension office’s Agriculture in the Classroom program.

Kindergarteners at Washington’s Stewart Elementary and the WACO and Keota elementaries have been hatching chicken eggs in their classrooms. This is the program’s second year which has taught children about poultry and the different ways eggs can be used, and given them the chance to snuggle up with these chirping friends. Washington County 4-H and Youth Coordinator Amy Green shares how some students with a farming background have taught their peers during this time, “It’s been fun for some of the kids to be experts. Some of these kids know about these chicks and have hatched chicks or have poultry at home. And so it’s been such a neat opportunity for them also to teach the kids in their class like, ‘This is how we have done it,’ or ‘This is what I know.’”

The chicks will soon be ready for free adoption by 4-H members and Clover Kids who may contact the extension office until this Friday to register for three to six egg laying chicks, which may include roosters. The chicks will be ready by about April 15th or May 13th. Green notes that this “Peeps for Keeps” program is not hindered by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s recent order in relation to the highly pathogenic avian influenza, though biosecurity and following your community’s rules regarding backyard flocks is encouraged.

Agriculture in the Classroom is in its third year for Washington County, with educator Diane Rinner serving five school districts with over 1,000 students reached each month from preschool to sixth grade.