This year, May Moore Primary School’s second graders participated in a program to hatch bobwhite quail in their classrooms. The idea began in 2004 when biologist Eric Powers wanted to raise the population of quail to help control the number of ticks in the community; with more quail in local forests, there are fewer harmful ticks.
Each second-grade class received 12 eggs that they were responsible for incubating over 23 days. Students helped keep the incubator at 99.9 degrees and ensured the humidity stayed consistent. They also turned the eggs three times a day. As hatching week approached, students watched for signs that the chicks were beginning to hatch. Some classes were lucky enough to witness a live hatching.
Once the chicks hatched, they were moved into a heated tank kept at 105 degrees. The baby chicks quickly became part of the classroom community. After several days, the chicks were taken back to the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery in Brookhaven, where volunteers will take care of the chicks until they are ready to be released into the wild.
Dana Grafstein’s quail “egg-sperts” proudly explained to visiting kindergarten classes how they took care of their quail eggs from the time they entered the incubator until the adorable baby quail chicks hatched. The second graders took turns going through every step of the process.
Finally, the kindergartners had a chance to observe the fluffy babies up close. As they were leaving, Grafstein told them, “When you get to second grade, you will get to help hatch baby quail, too,” which was met with gasps and big smiles from all of the younger students.
“Raising quail was really fun, and when we were quiet, we could hear them chirping,” Kyrie Curtis said.
“The quail are so cute and their eyes have a sparkle to them,” Sebastian Arriaza said.
“I liked learning how the quail used their neck muscles to push themselves out of the shell,” Sarah Hafeez said.
“Raising quail was pretty amazing because we got to see them hatch and teach the kindergarten students about them,” Dalal Fadel said.
Date Added: 6/5/2025