Some schools have emotional support animals like rabbits or guinea pigs, but Longfellow went a whole different way.  This year we decided to get chickens. 

School-Based Technology Specialist (SBTS) Mary Reid has a view of the coop from her desk, and helps instructional coach Elaina Bafaro, who shares her office, to take care of the chickens. 

According to Reid, the original idea was to get a goat, but then the staff thought goats would be too distracting and maybe not a good idea, so they went with chickens. 

The chickens live in the courtyard behind thelibrary.  The gardening club cleared some of the weeds and grass there to make room for them. They also helped build the pen for them to live in.  They can often be seen just roaming the courtyard. “They like to dig holes and we give them worms we find.  The hens are very curious and smart, and the rooster likes to show off,” said Reid.

They haven’t yet been named. The plan is to have the students come up with names and have a raffle to see what to name the chickens.

Ms. Reid says they were all supposed to be hens but the black one ended up being a rooster. Because of this, some of the eggs turned out to be viable.  Ms. Bafaro and Ms. Reid have an incubator in their room, where they have so far hatched three chicks.

The chicks’ food is made of mostly corn and grain. The two oldest chicks are named Monday and Tuesday because that is when they hatched. 

Science teacher Danielle Deshazo initially had the idea to bring them to the school, and her 7th grade science classes get to observe them.   

Right now they are at the farm because it’s cold and wintertime, but as spring arrives, look for more opportunities to interact with the chickens.