Another very busy week in the archives here in the Agri-science Building! We seem to fly from one project to another, leaving me feeling breathless but having a great time. To top it all off, this is Homecoming Week here in Vicksburg, so there are additional activities and excitement.
We kicked the week off with the Wildlife and Natural Resources students going on their annual local surface water quality testing field trip. We bused from Austin Lake (Lakeview Park) to Sunset Lake Beach to Clark Park to test the creek there. We moved on to the Outdoor Education Center, where we ate lunch and then walked back to Tub Lake to take samples. Our final stop of the day was at the boat launch at Barton Lake, where more sampling and analysis took place. We got very lucky with the weather, as all-day thunderstorms were initially forecast, but the weather was only slightly misty and overcast, so it was safe to be around the water.
Students gathered around the water quality test kits at Austin Lake. They had to obtain appropriate samples, record site data and perform and record their tests at each stop.
Water sample collection from the dock at Austin Lake's Lakeview Park.
Reading and following detailed directions, and helping one another with testing. Students later realized that they had spent the day doing biology and chemistry!
A flock of swans greeted us at Sunset Beach. They soon decided that the other side of the lake was more peaceful.
It was inevitable. Somebody HAD to end up in the water! At least they were dressed for it with tall boots!
Taking site notes and using the dredge to collect bottom samples.
Field chemistry.
Sorting benthic organisms from the dredge sample. Students found mussels, snails, tiny shrimp, and other small organisms.
As chemistry labs go, this one isn't so bad!
Next stop: Clark Park. This is a view from south to north as students walk the creek bank. This location also provided them the opportunity to assess the viability of the stream itself using observable markers such as plants along the bank, flow, and evidence of animals.
Although this isn't usually what we think of as a "lab bench", it works!
The stream near the middle of the park.
Surveying the local flora. (OK, they were actually hunting 4-leafed clovers.)
At the north end of the park, surveying the pool. Students spotted several good-sized fish in here. They also noticed quite a bit of litter, and recommended a return trip to do some cleanup!
Watching flow patterns and rate.
Students spotted this under one of the boards containing the upper pool. Do you know what they are?
The red claws in the above photo belong to the invasive red crayfish. They grow quite large and out-compete the native species. They were first found in Sunset Lake 2 years ago, and have since been spotted in multiple locations around the area.
The red coloring is seen clearly against the green grass. A student called the DNR to report the invasive species sighting, and the DNR asked that we collect them and pass them along to their monitoring program. Great work, students!
Next stop: The dock at Tub Lake, accessed from the Outdoor Education Center (OEC). Students found a wasp nest under the dock.
Cattails predominate along this bit of shoreline.
Students note GPS coordinates and record air and water temperatures, and test water pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, phosphates, nitrates, and other qualities.
Titration is used in several tests.
Accuracy is important to get reliable results.
The Secchi Disc measures how cloudy the water is.
The dredge scoops bottom samples to check for small organisms.
Last stop at Barton Lake boat launch. The water sample has been collected and students are gathering what they need to test.
Attaching the line to the dredge
Carefully collecting a sample to test dissolved oxygen. The container must be completely filled and capped underwater to prevent oxygen from the surrounding air from contaminating the sample.
The WNR students will now compile and interpret their data, and provide a report to local government and lakefront groups. Next, they will be looking in depth at wetlands: swamps and marshes.
The Animal Science and morning Animal Technology classes have been studying poultry, so the timing could not have been better for our eggs to hatch! These eggs were laid by our Rhode Island Red hens, with a Brahma rooster. We are told to expect about 60% of incubated eggs to hatch. However, we hatched 100% of the eggs that candled fertile!
Previous students candling eggs. Shining a strong light through the shells allows us to determine whether the egg is fertile, and to monitor the development of the chick inside.
Students compare eggs and grade them for quality
More egg comparisons.
Traditionally, egg candling has been done by making a foil-lined box with a light bulb inside and an egg-sized hole in one side. The egg is held up to the hole and the light shining through the shell allows the candler to see the shadow of the egg's contents through the shell. We quickly discovered that this takes forever with 30 students! Fortunately, almost every single student now carries the best egg candling device we've ever seen: A cell phone! The flashlight on a cell phone is the right size and brightness, plus students don't have to wait in line!
Candling an egg on a cell phone flashlight. The very light end, which is down in this photo, is the air cell. In the upper half, the shadow of the developing chick embryo can be seen.
The air cell at one end and the embryo at the other are clearly seen here as the egg is candled with a cell phone. Even the blood vessels within the egg are visible, and the dark round spot between the student's finger and thumb is the chick's eye.
Chicken eggs incubate for 21 days. On Tuesday evening they were pipped. The chick has made a hole from inside the shell membrane through into the air cell. This provides him with air to breathe while he makes a hold in the shell. Once a hole has been made in the shell using the egg tooth, the chick rests.
Although they have just pipped through their shells, the chicks are already cheeping! It is a bit disconcerting the first time one finds eggs rocking and cheeping in the incubator!
Eventually, the chick will break the shell all the way around and basically take a "lid" off from the egg and climb out. Ours were all hatched out but one by 7:00 am Wednesday. The last one emerged around 9:45 am, much to the delight of the students.
Freshly hatched chicks look disheveled and wet! It can take up to 24 hours for them to dry into the cute little fluffs we expect.
Chicks in a plastic bin under a heat lamp. They have been hatched for less than 12 hours, and are already capable of eating, drinking, running and chirping. the chick to the far left is the more recently hatched and is not yet completely dry.
Chicks require a heat source, either from the hen or an artificial source such as a heat lamp, for the first several weeks of their lives. These are housed in plastic tote under a heat lamp until they are a bit bigger.
Students were very excited to meet the new chicks, care for them, and watch them develop. they are also caring for 5 broiler chicks that are housed in the greenhouse. These are bred for fast growth and large breasts so that they produce a lot of white meat in a short period of time.
In addition to newly hatched chicks, we have admitted our 3rd and 4th cats to the cat foster program. Momma and her kitten Francis arrived Wednesday morning, and have become irresistible favorites already. Momma has one blue and one green eye, and is still nursing Francis, who is clearly big enough to be weaned!
It is difficult to see here, but Momma has a blue and a green eye! She has a red right ear, a black cat on her left forehead, and a calico tail!
Momma is friendly and very vocal. She has not yet learned to use her inside voice!
Francis is adorable...
and quite the character! Here he is reaching toward me asking for attention.
Horticulture continues their greenhouse work, and has nearly finished removing the old mulch and landscape fabric from in front of the greenhouse. They will plot and soil test at the Mill site next week and begin researching apple and pear varieties.
