IT wasn’t just children who were egg-cited about the arrival of little chicks at their school — it seems as if the rest of the world was as well.

Like many other schools, children at St James’ CE Primary Daisy Hill were able to experience the wonder of seeing chickens hatch when a special egg incubator was brought into school.

But they didn’t realise their cracking lessons would be enjoyed by people from across the globe when they linked up a webcam to the incubator. The live hatching reached more than 520,000 people reached and had more than 41,000 views worldwide.

Reception teacher Ella Roome said: “We received the eggs in April and the camera caught one of the chicks hatching and the post just went viral with views around the world including Australia and Hong Kong.

“The children have really enjoyed the experience and keeping up with how many views it has had. Watching the chicks hatch first hand was an experience they may never have again.”

And this week, the school introduced the grown-up chickens to their children — and the rest of the world, by once again posting it on the Facebook Page.

Some members of staff decided to adopt the chickens — now hens.

Miss Roome said the children last saw the chicks in July, when they were three months old.

She added: “The children were so shocked to see how much they had grown and developed from the yellow ball of fluff.”

Phoebe Heppolette said: “It’s exciting to know that people in Australia are watching our chicks!”

Jenson Lavender added: “I’m shocked and surprised that the video is being watched all over the world, I can’t believe it!”

“It was really nice to see the chickens, it made me happy,

“I thought they’d still be tiny but they’re really large, they could almost be in Year 1 or 2 running around!”