After being notified of this chick hatching project, UPC sent the following letter to Upper Merion Area School District administrators and educators at Roberts Elementary School. This letter was emailed to the below people and also sent by regular mail to 435 Crossfield Road. King of Prussia, PA 19406.

March 18, 2025

Attention:

Superintendent Dr. Tamara Thomas Smith, ttsmith@umasd.org

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Susan Silver, ssilver@umasd.org

Roberts Elementary School Principal Dr. Anthony Grazel, agrazel@umasd.org

Director of Curriculum & Instruction - Humanities Dr. Andrew Kuhn, akuhn@umasd.org

Dear Roberts Elementary School Administrators and Educators:

I am writing to you on behalf of United Poultry Concerns urging you not to have the classroom chick hatching project. Our organization United Poultry Concerns has dealt with the unhappy consequences of classroom chick hatching projects for more than 30 years: botched births, deformed chickens, traumatized students, lack of homes for the birds, and more. These projects, however well intended, do not teach an understanding of the family life of chickens and therefore the so-called life-cycle is represented to students in a totally unnatural, sterile and barren way.

There is also the issue of Salmonella infections that can be transmitted to children. Transmissible salmonella infections in backyard chickens are routinely reported in people, including children, who handle chickens. It is not that chickens are inherently infectious but that the many stressors to which they’re subjected, starting with mechanical incubation, can weaken the immunity conferred on chickens who grow up with a mother hen in fresh air, good soil, and sunlight. With the ongoing avian influenza (bird flu) outbreaks, particularly the H5N1 strain, impacting all 50 states, it is imperative to avoid exposing children and teachers to the highly pathogenic virus.

Students need to be taught and shown by example that each life is precious and that when we bring a life into this world, we are permanently responsible for that life. All of us who run sanctuaries see this lesson ignored or forgotten all the time. We do our best to educate people and to absorb into our care as many chickens and other “unwanted” animals as we can, but the tragedy is overwhelming and will remain so as long as people assume that when they don’t want a living creature anymore, they can pass on “the problem” to someone else.

We respectfully urge teachers not to hatch chicks in mechanical incubators and, instead, to incorporate the many creative ways of teaching students to appreciate and understand the life of birds that are readily available. Here is the link to our booklet “Hatching Good Lessons: Alternatives to School Hatching Projects”: www.upc-online.org/hatching/alternatives.html. I have included a printed copy.

Sincerely,

Liqin Cao, President
United Poultry Concerns