When I first came to Los Angeles from Seattle back in 1980, I was doing my counseling internship. My supervisor helped me find a job teaching preschool. I taught afternoon class and my partner taught morning class. We planned a lot of science projects for the little kids to do and learn. One of them was incubating chicks. We rented an incubating machine and bought twelve eggs.
The little kids watched the eggs, and had a designated time taking turns to rotate the eggs. It took twenty-eight days for the eggs to hatch.
When it was around the twenty-eighth day, we saw the chicks started to poke the egg shells from inside, a little bit at a time. By the time they poked a hole big enough to come out, they were ready to run around.
Within the days of chicks hatching, there were lots of “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” among the kids, even among the teachers and helpers. Yet, there was one last chick couldn’t quite come out of the shell. She poked a hole big enough to come out, but a little patch of her skin still attached to the shell. She couldn’t quite shake off the shell.
We were watching her struggle for hours. She rested a little bit when she was tired, and then struggled again.
My partner and I were talking about what to do. Should we help her to take off that piece of shell? I thought we shouldn’t meddle with it when she was not ready? My partner couldn’t stand watching the chick’s struggle, so she touched that shell a little, and a little, and eventually took that piece of shell off. We saw a tender spot on the chick after the shell came off.
Next day, when we went to school, we were sadden to find that the last chick didn’t make it. Her body was not mature enough to push off that last piece of shell. We shouldn’t have meddled with it.
What a harsh way to learn such a lesson. I realised it when I went to the Cornish farms and baulked at the sight of the bloody placenta that hung off the ewe’s back after she had birthed. The farmer pointed out that the placenta falls off on its own and they do their best not to interfere with the way nature operates. It was fascinating – that lesson. Nature has her own ways indeed.
Oh it is. But that is where we keep learning that nature does not need our inputs all the time. A difficult thing for humans to envisage but reality bites.
Yes, it’s so true. I see a lot of examples of how human being try to manipulate nature. Now we fear the farming business and try to eat organic products.
You hit the nail upon the head of the one topic that has been bothering me since I have arrived here. I have been warned several times by locals to eat organic products only! Have you gone the strictly organic way too?
My daughter did. I’m still doing as much as I could. The problem is that the seeds of a lot of produce are generically alternated. The matter is monopoly. One farmer tried to save the seeds from previous year and not to buy from that owner of seeds, the farm was accidentally caught on fire!! The chickens are fed with hormone injected food!
Oh gosh. Horrifying. Well I shall keep your advise in mind. I have made the switch already but I wonder how people can regularly afford such expensive organic food. It is ghastly expensive here!
Poor chick! I probably would have done the same thing.
When we had chickens, they wanted to try to hatch some of their eggs; we could tell because they wouldn’t let us have the eggs. Two hens got on the same nest of eggs, fighting each other over which egg needed to be turned when. None of those eggs made it, because one chicken would rotate an egg, and the other hen would undo it. I guess sometimes even nature can’t agree on how to do it!
Two other hens tried it by themselves, and each of them was successful in hatching a chick. 😊
If I may ask, what happened to the other 11 chicks after they hatched? Did you or someone at the school adopt them?
Good question! I can’t remember! I think we kept the chicks to a point, then give them away, but to whom? I don’t remember. We did butterflies, of course when the butterfly came out from the cocoon, the class got together to set the butterfly free! We churned butter… did a lot of fun things with those kids! How come you didn’t separate the hens and give each some eggs to hatch?
Ah, okay, so they were given to someone; that’s good. 🙂 I wondered if they stayed in the classroom for long after hatching!
Oh, you did butterflies?! How neat! What kind were they?
Mmm, butter! Did the kids (and you) get to taste it?
It sounds like you and the kids had a lot of fun! 😀
You’re right, we should have separated them; we didn’t know at the time, we thought they knew what they were doing! We have many nests; I don’t know why those hens felt like they needed to have the same one. On the next attempt to let them hatch the eggs, we separated them. 🙂
For the butterfly, we ordered the kit, it came with a decorated container several live caterpillars. Before more butterflies came to my garden, I was going to get a kit with five caterpillars. For the chicks, we probably kept them for awhile in the classroom.
Yes, I’ll staying blogging as long as I could. I hope you will also. Several people disappeared on me, I know two of them were very ill. I wish they were just no energy to blog, nothing worse.
That’s great. 😀 I thought it was a Saturday only thing! 😄 I’m not sure if I can, but if time allows, I may give it a try! And if I miss it, there will be a new prompt on Saturday! 🙂
The Showers of Blessings 
Such great photos!
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Thank you, Teresa!
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What a pity, Miriam. The baby chick may well have died anyway as it was immature.
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Yes, I know, it happens! The chick was not mature and strong enough to come all the way out!
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Wow what a wonderful post, and I learn something new as well. I do know that not to mingle with Nature, but not to mingle till last!
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Yes, exactly. Let the sun and moon and rain do their jobs!
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Rightly said!
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*°• ♥ •°*
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What a harsh way to learn such a lesson. I realised it when I went to the Cornish farms and baulked at the sight of the bloody placenta that hung off the ewe’s back after she had birthed. The farmer pointed out that the placenta falls off on its own and they do their best not to interfere with the way nature operates. It was fascinating – that lesson. Nature has her own ways indeed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I think it’s hard to stand to watch without tempting to “help.”
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Oh it is. But that is where we keep learning that nature does not need our inputs all the time. A difficult thing for humans to envisage but reality bites.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it’s so true. I see a lot of examples of how human being try to manipulate nature. Now we fear the farming business and try to eat organic products.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You hit the nail upon the head of the one topic that has been bothering me since I have arrived here. I have been warned several times by locals to eat organic products only! Have you gone the strictly organic way too?
LikeLiked by 1 person
My daughter did. I’m still doing as much as I could. The problem is that the seeds of a lot of produce are generically alternated. The matter is monopoly. One farmer tried to save the seeds from previous year and not to buy from that owner of seeds, the farm was accidentally caught on fire!! The chickens are fed with hormone injected food!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh gosh. Horrifying. Well I shall keep your advise in mind. I have made the switch already but I wonder how people can regularly afford such expensive organic food. It is ghastly expensive here!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor chick! I probably would have done the same thing.
When we had chickens, they wanted to try to hatch some of their eggs; we could tell because they wouldn’t let us have the eggs. Two hens got on the same nest of eggs, fighting each other over which egg needed to be turned when. None of those eggs made it, because one chicken would rotate an egg, and the other hen would undo it. I guess sometimes even nature can’t agree on how to do it!
Two other hens tried it by themselves, and each of them was successful in hatching a chick. 😊
If I may ask, what happened to the other 11 chicks after they hatched? Did you or someone at the school adopt them?
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Good question! I can’t remember! I think we kept the chicks to a point, then give them away, but to whom? I don’t remember. We did butterflies, of course when the butterfly came out from the cocoon, the class got together to set the butterfly free! We churned butter… did a lot of fun things with those kids! How come you didn’t separate the hens and give each some eggs to hatch?
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Ah, okay, so they were given to someone; that’s good. 🙂 I wondered if they stayed in the classroom for long after hatching!
Oh, you did butterflies?! How neat! What kind were they?
Mmm, butter! Did the kids (and you) get to taste it?
It sounds like you and the kids had a lot of fun! 😀
You’re right, we should have separated them; we didn’t know at the time, we thought they knew what they were doing! We have many nests; I don’t know why those hens felt like they needed to have the same one. On the next attempt to let them hatch the eggs, we separated them. 🙂
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For the butterfly, we ordered the kit, it came with a decorated container several live caterpillars. Before more butterflies came to my garden, I was going to get a kit with five caterpillars. For the chicks, we probably kept them for awhile in the classroom.
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That is so cool! 😀 It must have been so fun to watch them grow and turn into butterflies!
I bet you and your students missed the chicks when you had to give them away! 🙂
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I think so but I forgot how it happened!
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Aww, haha! 🙂
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It was 37 years ago!
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Ooohhh. Haha, wow; that was a long time ago. I can’t remember 37 years ago; I’m only in my mid-twenties! 😂
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37 years ago, you were in pre-conception stage somewhere in heaven!
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Yeah, that’s true! 😀
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Okay, my young friend! I’m glad we’ve been friend for a long time!
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I’m glad we’ve been friends too; may we be friends for a long time to come! ❤
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Yes, I’ll staying blogging as long as I could. I hope you will also. Several people disappeared on me, I know two of them were very ill. I wish they were just no energy to blog, nothing worse.
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I’m glad to hear that! 🙂 I have no plans to disappear anytime soon either!
Oh no, that’s so sad. I hope they get well soon! ♥ I’ve seen several disappear also, some with no explanation.
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Yes, one blogger made one last post and inform that she would discontinue, but at least people know.
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That’s nice to give a warning, but also sad that she had to stop.
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She seems to be young, probably for personal reason!
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Ooohhh. Yeah, probably so.
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Good response to the Saturday prompt…hehe…oooh,,,,aaah.
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😂 Ooohhhhh. So true! Aaaaaaahhhh if only I had seen it in time! 😂
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You still can do it before next Saturday!
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That’s great. 😀 I thought it was a Saturday only thing! 😄 I’m not sure if I can, but if time allows, I may give it a try! And if I miss it, there will be a new prompt on Saturday! 🙂
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Yes, that’s right! participate different challenges, but not every week, except the Tuesday and Weekly photos!
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🙂 ❤
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🙂 🙂
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Nature has its own timing, can be fitted for anything 👏👏👏
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Very good, you just wrote a poem!
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Such a bittersweet example of the value of adversity. There are gifts of strength in our struggles. ❤️
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How true it is! Yes, our own struggles increased our strength and made us strong! Thank you for your comment!
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