ChickQuest alumni resources

You’ve taken the workshop—now you’re an eggs-pert! Stay connected to the ChickQuest community for offers and events! Get the supplies you need to hatch more great learning!

ChickQuest videos

These videos will help your students better understand eggs and chicks.

Where do eggs come from?

Where do eggs come from?

The infertile egg

The infertile egg

The fertile egg

The fertile egg

Marketing and selling eggs

Marketing and selling eggs

Environmental egg farms

Environmental egg farms

Poultry and agricultural careers

Poultry and agricultural careers

Don’t miss out on offers for egg vouchers and more!

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Helpful resources

Here’s more information about raising chicks in the classroom.

Order materials

Meyer Hatchery has the eggs and chickens you need for ChickQuest. Teachers can send an email to info@meyerhatchery.com, and can find more helpful information on the Meyer Hatchery blog and the Learning Center page.
Visit the 4-H online store to order ChickQuest student logbooks or teacher guides.

Incubator setup: step by step

Watch this video to review setup and use of your new incubator!

More ChickQuest resources

ChickQuest: A classroom journey through the life cycle of chickens

ChickQuest: A classroom journey through the life cycle of chickens

What is the life cycle of a developing chick? From monitoring living eggs to observing chicks, these STEM activities pique curiosity, encourage collaboration and communication, and provide young scientists with unforgettable experiences.…

Life cycle of chickens (Elementary)

Life cycle of chickens (Elementary)

How long does it take a chicken egg to hatch? What is happening within the egg? This course describes the stages of chick development from embryo to hatchling.

Structure and function of eggs (Elementary)

Structure and function of eggs (Elementary)

How can a shell protect a developing chick in an egg? This course describes the structure of a chicken’s egg and how it functions to protect the chick until it hatches.

ChickQuest stories

Hear about other ChickQuest experiences!

Summer camp explores chickens with a STEM focus

Summer camp explores chickens with a STEM focus

Jackie Davis and Heidi Hisrich used their ChickQuest training in a creative way: summer camp for middle schoolers! 11 Bio-Med students helped to run the camp. 20 rising 4th-6th graders participated in this fun learning experience at the Bio-Med…

ChickQuest connects with challenged students

ChickQuest connects with challenged students

Case manager Bob Hurless recently took his Day Integrated Learning Center students through the hatching process after being trained in a ChickQuest workshop. “The students did a great job checking the incubator daily and we got to watch a few of…

Egg-cited about STEM learning

Egg-cited about STEM learning

Akron and Columbus hosted Ohio teachers for the final ChickQuest workshops of this school year! 89 educators gathered for a day of training in each location. All attendees left with hands-on experience in the program, as well as supplies to do the…

Cleveland gets ChickQuest workshop TWICE!

Cleveland gets ChickQuest workshop TWICE!

ChickQuest hit Cleveland not once but twice this month, thanks to the Ohio Soybean Council and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. Ohio educators gathered at a Cleveland Metropolitan Schools building, ready to learn, with both morning and…

ChickQuest: ready to hatch

ChickQuest: ready to hatch

A group gathered at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on the OSU campus for another popular ChickQuest workshop. Sponsored by Ohio Soybean Council with support from Meyer Hatchery, the workshop trained over 50 teachers in the engaging…

Back to school with ChickQuest!

Back to school with ChickQuest!

41 Ohio teachers gathered at the Nationwide &Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus this week for a ChickQuest workshop. The group included educators from 28 elementary schools, as well as extension agents. The workshop takes the attendees…

ChickQuest, including some chick doctoring, too!

ChickQuest, including some chick doctoring, too!

South Range Elementary teacher Tawny Tharp won grant materials to share ChickQuest with her third grade students. “I have been having a fun time with my students during the month of May while we waited for our incubated chicks to hatch! One of our…

Making new friends through ChickQuest

Making new friends through ChickQuest

Kim Bailey’s third graders at Fairbanks Elementary enjoyed the opportunity to hatch chicks. Thanks to the grant program, Bailey received a coupon for fertilized eggs from Meyer Hatchery and a set of classroom logbooks. Bailey shares: “We felt we had…

Leawood's life cycles

Leawood's life cycles

Students at Leawood Elementary School in Columbus are taking part in a building-wide Life Cycle Extravaganza. “Each grade level takes a life cycle to study for the month of May. It is turning out great, but the Leawood Hatchery is the most exciting…

ChickQuest learning

ChickQuest learning

Third grade teacher Tracy Germann at Saint Rose Catholic School was one of the 50 teachers who received ChickQuest student logbooks and an egg coupon thanks to the generosity of the Ohio Soybean Council and GrowNextGen. Her students are enjoying the…

ChickQuest is amazing!

ChickQuest is amazing!

ChickQuest is a wonderful way to engage your elementary students with hands-on STEM lessons. Though nothing can compare with hatching chicks, these classroom activities really help students learn in a fun way! Here are some photos from the…

Ready for ChickQuest!

Ready for ChickQuest!

Kindergarten teacher Megan Smith at Berne Union Elementary was one of the 50 ChickQuest grant winners, receiving a set of student logbooks and a coupon for eggs to hatch. She sent this message about her class: “Hello! We just received our eggs! I’ve…

ChickQuest in a chilly season

ChickQuest in a chilly season

32 dedicated educators braved single-digit temperatures to attend a recent ChickQuest workshop in Columbus. This program, combining engaging STEM lessons with the opportunity (and supplies!) to hatch chicks in the classroom, is so popular that some…

Fall fowl fun

Fall fowl fun

Welcome back, ChickQuest learners! Over thirty Ohio teachers gathered at the Nationwide 4-H building on the Ohio State University campus for a day of STEM activities for their classrooms. The Ohio Soybean Council provides this opportunity several…

Examining egg nutrition

Examining egg nutrition

Are cheaper eggs just as nutritious as organic or free-run options? A lab in Canada tested 14 brands to find out. They also looked at nutritional differences between small-farm and big-brand organic eggs. “Some of the cheapest, widely available eggs…

Reaching a new group of ChickQuest teachers!

Reaching a new group of ChickQuest teachers!

Over 60 Ohio teachers recently participated in a unique, virtual version of the ChickQuest program. This project was a collaboration between Ohio Soybean Council and Summit County Educational Service Center. Each teacher received training in using…

ChickQuest challenges and successes

ChickQuest challenges and successes

Samantha Polczynski is an Intervention Specialist and Behavior Specialist at Murry Ridge School in Elyria. Her classroom is made up of primary and intermediate students with developmental disabilities, including individuals with autism, ADHD, and…

ChickQuest in Wellington, OH!

ChickQuest in Wellington, OH!

ChickQuest workshops in 2019 wrapped up with an event in Wellington, OH in December. 24 teachers were trained in lively, hands-on STEM science lessons and how to hatch chicks in the classroom, the perfect way to cover the state standards on teaching…

ChickQuest: not just for elementary students!

ChickQuest: not just for elementary students!

The typical ChickQuest teacher is in an elementary school, but the program can be tweaked to accompany higher grades. Jennifer Scheidler teaches Academic & Accelerated Biology at Sycamore High School. Here, she explains how she incorporated…

NCMS Students on a

NCMS Students on a "ChickQuest"

Sixth-grade science teachers Sarah Clouse, Sara Steigerwald, Anne Aston, and student teacher Lauren Fairley attended “ChickQuest” during the NCCS Professional Learning Day on February 16. In the article below, Mrs. Anne Aston shares the lesson with…

Welcome to the hatchery

Welcome to the hatchery

How do you get over 800 children to a hatchery for a field trip? Make it a VIRTUAL field trip! To further our goal of connecting industry with the classroom, we partnered with Nepris to do a tour of Meyer Hatchery in Polk, Ohio. This was a natural…

Growing our network at SECO

Growing our network at SECO

Teachers attending the Science Education Council of Ohio’s 2018 Science Symposium got the opportunity to experience Ohio Soybean Council-sponsored GrowNextGen in several ways! We had a booth in the exhibit hall where experienced GrowNextGen teacher…

ChickQuest: MORE than just hatching chicks!

ChickQuest: MORE than just hatching chicks!

Marti Mercuri of Broadleigh Elementary shares about her experience with the ChickQuest program: I am so thrilled with the Chickquest project. Even though I don’t have my own class, I borrowed a third grade class and we did EVERY STEM activity in the…

Special education classrooms enjoy hatching chicks

Special education classrooms enjoy hatching chicks

David Lockard is an instructional coach for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. He attended the ChickQuest workshop and conducted the lessons and hatching with two Special Education classrooms at Louis Agassiz Elementary School. “It was a…

An engaging experience at Almira Academy

An engaging experience at Almira Academy

Desiree Volney teaches 3rd grade at Almira Academy in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. She attended a ChickQuest workshop and said, “My students really enjoyed the program. They were completely engaged throughout each lesson and could not…

Students study chickens, eggs and more chicks

Students study chickens, eggs and more chicks

Paula Ritter and Jerry Boes Arcadia High School Two of Jerry Boes’s ag ed classes teamed up with Paula Ritter’s Integrated Science II class to study chickens and eggs. While the students were studying eggs, they also had over 50 eggs in two…

Baby chicks at Bolton Elementary

Baby chicks at Bolton Elementary

Keisha Pitts-Bullard Bolton Elementary School What an amazing experience this was! Our kindergarten class collaborated with the third grade class at Bolton Elementary School in Cleveland. The students enjoyed watching the process unfold. The third…

A favorite part of 4th grade

A favorite part of 4th grade

Alexis Swisher Imagine Groveport Community School I am a 4th grade math and science teacher at Imagine Groveport Community School. Two 4th grade science classes hatched chicks last year. The kids absolutely loved it! We did many experiments and it…

A chance to try DuckQuest!

A chance to try DuckQuest!

Eileen Elswick 5th grade science teacher Hayes Intermediate, Grove City I’ve used the ChickQuest materials in my 5th grade science class for 2 years. Last year, I was getting ready to order eggs when a friend called to tell me a nesting mallard duck…

"Chick experts" share knowledge with others

Susan Haag I just wanted to share a little bit about my experience with ChickQuest. I am a Reading Specialist in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. My third grade students and I participated in ChickQuest. My students had a phenomenal…

You're never too old for ChickQuest!

You're never too old for ChickQuest!

Jane Kuhlman Mount Vernon Middle School I teach in a 7th grade science classroom at Mount Vernon Middle School. ChickQuest is a little extra I do with my kids in the spring. Many students will start out telling how they have already watched this in…

Inquiry-based learning delights students

Inquiry-based learning delights students

Susan Scott I am a Cleveland Metropolitan School teacher who teaches Reading K-8. This year I participated in Chick Quest with my 3rd graders. We had 9 chicks hatch! My students were ecstatic from the time we set up the incubator until the chicks…

Chicks draw in admiring visitors

Chicks draw in admiring visitors

Mrs. Margie Bodle 3rd grade I am a Cleveland Metropolitan Schools Basic Skills teacher working at St. Mark Catholic School in Cleveland. We incubated and hatched 5 chicks with both 3rd grade classes. It was so much fun! I introduced the unit to the…

No one can resist these adorable little chicks!

No one can resist these adorable little chicks!

Cynthia Madanski Robinson Elementary School Toledo, OH I am a science support teacher in an urban school, serving students in grades K-8. I knew the younger students would be thrilled to learn about chicks, but it surprised me how enthralled the…

"Here's what we've been waiting for!"

Mindy Heaston teaches 3rd grade at Graham Elementary in St. Paris, Ohio. She says: We took this video last year of our eggs hatching to help our students see the process after hours. The chicks were hatching early morning and late evening, and my…

So THAT'S what was in those eggs?!?

So THAT'S what was in those eggs?!?

Last spring at East Technical High School in Cleveland, students in 9-12 Agriscience Education classes experienced firsthand the miracle of life through the hatching of baby chicks. ChickQuest allowed students to take ownership and protect the lives…

ChickQuest: not just for little kids!

ChickQuest: not just for little kids!

Adam Kendig I teach a high school biology class at Arcanum High School. I know that Chickquest is designed for elementary students, but I adapted it to fit my curriculum by starting with an inquiry lesson. I had the students look at the eggs and…

"The highlight of the students' day"

Wendy Williams Beatty Park Elementary School Grades 3-5 ChickQuest allowed the students in my classroom to experience something that they would have never experienced. My students are inner city kids; some never even knew what a chicken looked like…

Chicken corral

Chicken corral

Michelle Atkinson I teach at Horizon Science Academy Toledo, 5th grade Math and Science. We hatched eggs last year and the students loved it! We cleared out the desks and made a chicken corral on the second day we had them. Those chicks had the best…

Examining eggs and checking on chicks

Examining eggs and checking on chicks

Rob Isner is program manager for 4-H Youth Development, working at George Washington Carver STEM School in Cleveland. As part of the Agriscience in the City program, Isner followed up with teachers who’d gone through the ChickQuest workshop,…

Vote for Egg Education!

Vote for Egg Education!

Over 40 educators gathered at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center on Election Day for a ChickQuest workshop. This hands-on STEM program involves a variety of science activities—measuring, predicting, hypothesizing, testing, and…

Chicks in the classroom part of Agriscience in the City

Chicks in the classroom part of Agriscience in the City

Rob Isner works at George Washington Carver STEM Elementary School in Cleveland as Program Manager for 4-H Youth Development. His position is part of the “Agriscience in the City” program created in 2014 to promote learning about agriculture and…

Fall ChickQuest workshop held

Fall ChickQuest workshop held

32 teachers met at the 4H building on the Ohio State University campus for this fall’s ChickQuest workshop. Presenter Jeanne Gogolski took the participants through the ChickQuest curriculum, demonstrating the many hands-on STEM activities involved.…

Hello, homeschoolers!

Hello, homeschoolers!

We’re making connections with the homeschooling community! GrowNextGen had a booth at the Cincinnati Midwest Homeschool Convention in April. Both parents and children were interested in the egg incubator on the table—many wanted to buy an incubator…

Animal agriculture: the egg comes first

Thirty-nine teachers recently braved November snow and low temperatures to spend a day learning about animal agriculture in the ChickQuest workshop. This school program encourages 3rd graders to use science, engineering, and technology to…