Newborn chicks delight residents at Portchester care home

The eggs, which were given to the Woodland Court Residential Home in Portchester by the company Incredible Eggs, began to hatch over the Easter period, to the delight of both the residents and the staff. The first egg hatched at midnight, with the chick being given the name Midnight by the staff and the residents.

As the other eggs hatched, they were given Easter and Biblical-themed names, due to the timely nature of their hatching. In addition to Midnight, the other chicks were named John, Paul, Peter, Gabrielle and finally Judas, who was given the name due to the chick hatching a day later than the others.

Charlotte Harman, the manager of the Woodland Court Residential Home, said that the newly-hatched chicks brought a wave of enthusiasm from the residents.

She said: ‘The residents loved watching the eggs hatch and tracking the progress one by one. They would visit the incubator daily to check on the eggs and watch the ducklings grow after they were born.’

Ms Harman stated that the residents were able to give the chicks their first bath on Sunday, which she said that the residents had ‘thoroughly enjoyed’.

The ducklings have since been moved to a family farm owned by one of the care staff members. Before their departure, the chicks attracted visits by the children of the staff members, and the residents are now reported to be eager to expect more chicks in the near-future, after seeing the positive impacts that the care and the hatching of the eggs have had on them.

The family farm has said that they will allow the newborn chicks to ‘roam freely and enjoy themselves’, and has promised to keep the residential home updated consistently with their progress, and will possibly bring the ducklings back for a visit in the near future.

Woodland Court in Portchester Road said that the residential home ‘regularly engage in activities that enrich the lives of its residents’, as well as holding events that ‘enhance their well-being’.

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