Life sciences lab

CHICKEN PROJECT

Stella with help from Conor and Josie

The Introduction

The process of a chicken growing from an embryo to a fully developed chicken has always been hidden behind the shell. In this experiment the embryo will grow and fully develop without its shell. This way the process can be observed while the chicken is growing. The fertilized egg shell is cracked and the egg yolk is placed into a cup that is covered and sterilized as it is placed into an incubator. Day by day the embryo will grow and the data will be recorded. The average survival rate of this experiment is 57%; and in a previous test, 8 of 14 chickens still developing at day 18 survived the process without their shells. 

Tahara, Yutaka, and Katsuya Obara. “A Novel Shell-less Culture System for Chick Embryos Using a Plastic Film as Culture Vessels.” Journal of Poultry Science 51 (2014): 307-12. Web.

December 2nd, 2016

Ethical questions that need to be asked

1. What will happen to the chickens after they are hatched?

2. How successful/how many embryos-

1. will begin developing that will not survive?

2. how does this compare to the standard success rate?

3. What the the risks?

4. How will they be minimized?

5. What is the scientific value?

6. How will the chickens be cared for at the WISRD institute before they are adopted?

The Set-up phase Timeline

1. Find a journal source for survival rate of chicks (traditional method): Complete

2. Contact possible homes for the chicken after their “Hatching”: 12/2/2016

3. Create a step-by-step protocol from initial incubation in the regular incubator through to care of chicks at Wildwood 1/1/17

4. Present the project to the Wildwood ethics board: 1/10/17

5. Buy an incubator: 1/15/17

The first step of the process for the project has been completed, which was to find a credible journal source that explained the survival rate of chickens. Finding a home for the hatched chickens is the next step, however it has proved to be a challenge because we’ve had difficulty finding a farm that accepts roosters as well as hens. We are currently looking into utilizing rooster sanctuaries throughout Los Angeles County. We have completed a rough step-by-step protocol from the initial incubation of eggs in a regular incubator through the care of chicks by January 1st, 2017. We plan to present the project to the Wildwood ethics board on January 10th, 2017 and hopefully purchase and own an incubator by the 15th.