Looking at Kentucky by the Numbers Report according to the 2022 Census, the Nelson County youth population under 19 is 11,756. Based on the latest Community Need Assessment one of the top ten needs of youth is promoting youth agriculture and natural resource literacy. To address this need, Nelson County 4-H embarked on an Embryology journey. Teachers from all schools in Nelson County were able to sign out materials to complete chick incubation in their classroom. 

This program specifically teaches students how a fertilized egg grows and develops into a chick, that can then lay more eggs or is raised for meat production. Students have the opportunity to learn about the incubator that fertilized eggs are placed in and then hatch approximately 21 days later. Once the eggs hatch, they then learn how to care for the chickens by feeding them, ensuring they are drinking water, and provide them with a clean-living environment in the brooding box. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with raising animals and the students are provided with this learning experience in their classroom. Once the chickens were old enough to leave the brooding boxes, teachers were responsible for providing or finding a home for the chickens. 

This program was targeted for elementary and middle school aged students. 1,537 students were exposed to the incubators present in their classroom and watched the process from fertilized egg to chick. Most students were in 1^st through 5^th grade. The younger students were the target audience as the opportunity to participate in FFA in the classroom is not available until middle school in Nelson County. Also, the sooner students learn about where their food they consume is coming from, the more informed decisions they can make about where they choose to buy their food from and what foods they would like to consume. 

18 teachers from various schools in Nelson County participated in the 4-H Embryology Program during the spring months of 2024. This program would not have been possible without the willingness of the teachers to guide the students in caring for the chicks on the days the students were not in school. A big thank you to those teachers that were willing to commit as a community partner for the program. 

There were several takeaways from the 4-H Embryology Program not only for the students, but also the teachers.1,342 of the youth that participated indicated that they learned about animal needs through keeping close watch on the incubators and once the chicks hatched providing them with food, water, and a clean environment. Also, this program allowed students to step up and be leaders in their classrooms by taking the lead on caring for the animals. 661 youth indicated that this program gave them a chance to be a leader. Being a leader is an important life skill that can be carried to many other places in their day to day lives. Finally, 702 youth said that this program increased their interest in agriculture. This peaked interest could lead the youth to become more involved in other 4-H activities, FFA in the future, and even choose a career path in the agriculture industry. You never know when youth will find their spark that could impact their entire future. According to the teachers facilitating this program, 1,060 youth demonstrated an increase level of science process skills such as observation, classification, and prediction. This may translate to youth using the science process skills to make further observations in the future with many different situations. Overall, the 4-H Embryology Program proved to be a huge success in increasing the agricultural literacy of Nelson County youth.