New Arrivals at GSB’s Home Winds Farm: Raising Heritage Breed Chicks for Learning and Sustainability

Home Winds Farm recently welcomed 34 baby chicks, marking the beginning of an exciting journey in Gill St. Bernard’s School’s education, sustainability, and egg production. These chicks, sourced from Murray McMurray Hatchery, represent two unique heritage breeds—Cuckoo Marans and Welsummers—each chosen for their distinct characteristics and the valuable lessons they offer our students.

• Cuckoo Marans: Originating from Marans, France, these hardy, docile birds are known for their striking barred feather patterns and rich, dark brown eggs.

• Welsummers: With a beautiful mix of brown, blonde, and black feathers, these Dutch-born birds lay terracotta or speckled eggs. As chicks, they resemble tiny chipmunks!

Our farm prioritizes heritage breeds over commercial laying hens, producing premium, artisanal eggs while providing an enriched learning experience for students across all three divisions. Each chick is weighed weekly and tagged for identification by the Upper School Animal Science class, allowing us to track their development over time. They are in two separate pens with different diets:

• One group receives starter/grower feed (18% protein), the standard diet for laying hen breeds before they start laying eggs.

• The other group receives meat bird starter/grower feed (22% protein) to observe the impact of higher protein intake.

This hands-on experiment helps students understand how nutrition influences growth and development, a key component of our animal science curriculum. The chicks thrive in a carefully controlled environment such as using heat plates set at 95°F, mimicking the warmth of a mother hen, and dim lighting to prevent overstimulation and encourage healthy behavior.

As they grow, the chicks will develop their adult feathers, and when they can regulate their body temperature naturally (between four to six weeks of age), they will graduate from the brooder pens to coops in the barn.

Students engaged in this project gain valuable skills, including observing animal behavior for signs of health, handling animals gently, understanding the relationship between diet, genetics, and growth, and learning the importance of data collection and scientific inquiry.

Once the hens reach maturity (18-22 weeks), they will begin laying eggs, contributing to our farm stand and future farm-to-table initiatives. Looking ahead, we aim to expand our coops to house breeding flocks of heritage breeds, including Cream Legbars, Cuckoo Marans, Welsummers, and White Leghorns—allowing us to hatch and raise our chicks right here on campus.

Stay tuned as we continue to follow these chicks' growth and their impact on our farm and student learning!