By Lily McClaren

Now that we have 30 new hens’ eggs incubating in the science lab (ready to hatch around June 4), we thought it would be a good time to check in on our old friends, the 18 chickens born at BBES last May.

 I interviewed Ms. Jessica Mack and her daughter Kyra Tobia to find out how our chickens are doing! 

Ms. Mack said the family kept around half of the 18 BBES chickens, and gave the rest to some of their friends. The Tobias, who have a small farm in Colts Neck, also kept the names the students gave to the chickens and roosters, including Gregory, the biggest and the leader of the flock; Peanut Butter; Jelly; Oreo; and Chi Chi, the smallest rooster in the flock. The Tobias have a coop behind their house with about 25 chickens in total. The BBES chickens are now adults, and many of them have laid eggs.

This means that some of the 30 eggs incubating in the science lab could be the offspring of our BBES chickens,  Ms. Mack said.

Ms. Mack said the adult chickens are thriving in their coop, and they get along with all the other chickens her family has, but there is one rooster that wakes her up every morning at 4:30 AM. Some of the chickens are very friendly from being around all the BBES students for their first two weeks of life, but some hate to be touched. Kyra has a harness to walk the friendly chickens!

The chickens eat pellets with calcium and nutrients. Chickens need this type of feed because it takes a lot of nutrients to create eggs. They also get a snack of dried mealworms, which they really enjoy. There’s a lot of protein in them for health. Also, they get a natural dewormer containing cayenne pepper, chili powder, sage, and regular pepper. It’s an all-natural dewormer. Chickens can’t taste anything spicy. However, the spice inside them gets rid of the parasites. 

It sounds like our feathered friends from BBES have found the perfect “forever home!” From early morning wake-up calls to walks on a harness, these chickens are living their best lives. Even though they’ve moved on from our school, they are still healthy, happy, and growing strong. We are so glad to hear that Gregory and the rest of the flock are doing well, and we’ll be on the lookout for Gregory Junior in a few weeks. 

Photos courtesy of Ms. Mack