Unit 6 — February: Chicken Care and Management
Description
This unit applies genetics and animal science knowledge to practical chicken husbandry. Students design chicken habitats using webquests to research square footage requirements, nesting boxes, ventilation, and outside run needs. They learn to calculate feed requirements for different life stages and practice daily care routines including water changes, feeding, and bedding management. Chick identification activities teach breed recognition and counting, with percentages calculated for breed composition and losses. Students learn chicken anatomy through dissection and observation. A simulated veterinary component teaches disease identification and diagnosis using props and symptoms, connecting to real animal health needs.
Essential Questions
- What are the requirements for a healthy chicken habitat?
- How do we calculate and meet nutritional needs?
- How do we identify chicken breeds and health problems?
- What does proper animal husbandry involve?
Learning Objectives
- Design appropriate chicken housing
- Calculate space and supply requirements
- Determine feed amounts for different life stages
- Identify chicken breeds and characteristics
- Calculate percentages and losses
- Recognize signs of disease and illness
- Understand treatment options
- Practice daily animal care routines
Supplemental Resources
- Graph paper for habitat design and calculations
- Colored pencils and markers for habitat sketches
- Index cards for breed identification flashcards
- Rulers and measuring tools for dimension calculations
- Poster board for documenting care schedules
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Science and Engineering Practices
Students engage in reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks throughout all units. They conduct research on agricultural topics using informational texts, write blog posts and project reports, present findings to peers, and engage in collaborative discussions. Students summarize information from diverse media, quote from sources to support claims, and produce informative and opinion writing aligned to agricultural themes such as food systems, animal science, and natural resource management.
Students apply mathematical concepts across all units. They use measurement and unit conversions when testing water chemistry, calculating feed amounts, and designing chicken coops. Students collect and graph data from macroinvertebrate studies and plant experiments, calculate percentages for hatch rates and cost analysis, use area and volume formulas when designing agricultural structures, and apply operations with fractions and decimals in food science and agribusiness contexts.
Students apply scientific practices throughout the curriculum by conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, developing models, and constructing explanations. Topics including plant biology, animal systems, water chemistry, genetics, ecology, and food chemistry directly align with life science and earth science disciplinary core ideas. Students engage in engineering design when creating hydroponics systems and chicken coop structures, and they use crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect, systems and system models, and structure and function.
Career readiness, financial literacy, and 21st century life skills are embedded throughout all units. Students explore careers in agriculture, food science, natural resource management, veterinary science, and agribusiness. They develop personal and entrepreneurial financial skills through agribusiness simulations, plant sales, and grocery cost analysis. Students use digital tools for research, collaboration, and data visualization, and they practice critical thinking, creativity, and communication in team-based agricultural challenges.
Formative Assessments
- Observations of habitat design and calculations
- Journals documenting daily chicken care and observations
- Discussions on veterinary scenarios
- Self-evaluations of problem-solving on habitat challenges
- Group work on disease diagnosis activities
Summative Assessment
Webquest projects on habitat design, lab practicals on anatomy and disease identification, portfolio updates, blog posts on animal care
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through labeled diagrams or drawings of chicken habitats with teacher-provided vocabulary cards, or through oral responses to questions about housing requirements and care routines. Simplified calculation tasks with visual models or manipulatives may replace multi-step math problems, and checklists or picture-based observation sheets may be used in place of written journals.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
For students with IEPs, provide visual supports such as labeled diagrams of chicken anatomy and housing layouts to support comprehension during design and dissection activities. Calculations involving feed amounts, space requirements, and percentages may be broken into sequential steps with graphic organizers or partially completed templates to reduce cognitive load. Students should have the option to demonstrate understanding of disease symptoms and daily care routines through oral responses or hands-on demonstrations rather than written output alone. Journals and portfolio entries may be dictated or completed with sentence starters to allow focus on agricultural content rather than writing mechanics.
Section 504
Students with 504 plans should be provided extended time for habitat design calculations and any written components of the webquest or portfolio. Preferential seating during dissection and veterinary scenario discussions will support focus and reduce distraction during complex, multi-step tasks. Printed reference materials, such as breed identification charts or care routine checklists, should remain accessible throughout the unit so students can direct their attention to applying the content.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners benefit from visual vocabulary support throughout this unit, including picture-word cards for key terms related to chicken anatomy, housing components, breed characteristics, and disease symptoms. Directions for habitat design tasks and daily care routines should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be encouraged to restate instructions in their own words before beginning. Where possible, connect chicken husbandry concepts to agricultural practices students may recognize from their home cultures, and allow students to record journal observations using labeled drawings or home language notes alongside English.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be introduced to foundational concepts — such as what chickens need to survive and basic animal care responsibilities — before moving into more complex tasks like percentage calculations or disease diagnosis. Habitat design and feed calculation tasks can be scaffolded by providing partially completed models or guiding questions that help students build toward the full task in manageable steps. Hands-on roles during daily care routines and group disease diagnosis activities offer natural entry points that build confidence and connect learning to concrete, observable outcomes.
Gifted & Talented
Advanced learners should be invited to extend their habitat design work by researching and integrating cost analysis, zoning considerations, or sustainable design principles into their planning. In the veterinary component, students can go beyond identifying symptoms to proposing evidence-based treatment protocols or exploring how disease spreads within a flock using basic epidemiological reasoning. Gifted students may also investigate the genetics behind breed characteristics at a deeper level, examining how selective breeding practices over generations have shaped modern chicken breeds used in agriculture.