Unsecure chicken perches

[jellykelly]

My son is in the reception year at school and next week they are doing a 'farm animals' topic. I have been asked to bring in a couple of chickens. Arrgh.

Which two shall I take? I can take in an ex batt and maybe explain a little about they're old living arrangements and how they can be helped (or is that too much for 4/5 year olds) and maybe then take in a cochin too.

Or.... I could take in Barack'o braham and her chicks, but then they're not great at being handled - let alone by 60 bratlings!

 

Also, what sort of things should I prattle on about for 30mins or so?

[Redwing]

I wouldnt take the broody and chicks, it will stress them and sometimes broodies can suddenly change towards their chicks - I've seen this at poultry sales you could take some pictures though and show those to the children as part of your talk

 

You are right that the battery hen situation is a bit heavy for 5 year olds but its still a good idea to take her and explain that this is the sort of hen that lays their supermarket eggs

 

the cochin will be much admired I am sure and the feathery legs are a bit different

 

maybe take some eggs, different colours if you can get hold of them and some food to show what chickens eat, some corn to show what might have been fed in the past too perhaps?

 

A wire dog cage would be ideal to put them in or one of those puppy play pen things

 

I suspect it will be less of a talk and more of a petting session though

[The 3 D's]

I would take the hen and her chicks, as i think this would be more suitable for younger children, as they all love cute fluffy things lol. I wouldnt take the ex batt as young children might find it hard to understand it all, but then again if you want to, then thats up to you. I would just talk about the day to day things with them, such as feeding and cleaning, mind you woud keep it fairly simple for them to understand! And you can also talk about the nature of them, and how the mum looks after her chicks, that sort of stuff, just try to drag it out a bit, maybe take a bit of food in and show them.

Matt

[Roobaloo]

I'd take the ex batts and let them know about their life...you could get the kids to group together in a game/role play type thing and have them stand in the equivalent space as a batt hen...then as a free range hen...and ask them which is better for pretending to be a hen...to help make it something they can understand. Keep it light and fun but with unbiased information.

 

I believe the sooner you can get these issues taught to younger generations, the sooner a change can happen. Young kids absorb a lot more than most people give them credit for!!

[jellykelly]

Thanks Tasha. I had immediately discounted the broody and chicks after typing.

 

I was going to take some treats - corn, mealworms and pellets (ok not a treat but the kids will see what they should be eating), eggs or varying shapes and sizes. Sadly I don't have any blue or green eggs to show off I do have a chicken playpen so we're good there.

I suppose I'll just play it by ear and take questions at they're fired at me - which should be entertaining. Out of the mouths of babes........ and all that!

 

As I was about to post I saw the other 2 replies.

 

That is a brilliant idea with the role play - I'm going to do that!!!

[Roobaloo]

Fab!!

 

As a kid, I always loved to learn that way. When teachers would take up out into the playground to do demonstrations etc. It helps kids learn by more than just words, they can feel, they can decide themselves...would they like to sit shoulder to shoulder, getting nudged by the kids next to them as they try to be chickens waiting for something to happen?

 

Or would they like to run around, flap their arms and play on the grass?

 

It doesn't have to be political...just the basics...and the kids will have learnt a valuble lesson!!

 

Good luck!!

[Mollie333]

I'd go with an ex battery hen.

great about the roll play x

[Redwing]

Yes the role play is a good idea, light enough for the kids (and not to be seen as too preachy by the parents) and easy for them to understand

[bridgy chooks]

Just a thought that if you have time, you could have a quick look at the things that are covered in 1 or more of the omlet lesson plans on here? http://www.omlet.co.uk/club/schools.phpBut could take you a while and not sure how serious your session is meant to be.

 

Also, from experience in telling my nieces and neighbours kids about the chickens, they are interested in egg colours, how often they lay, why they might not lay sometimes etc. For example, my neighbours kids were really surprised that my speckled sussex used to lay cream eggs whereas my light sussex lays tinted eggs - they thought it would be the other way round as the speckled sussex had dark feathers.

 

I think they would be impressed by a cochin as something a bit different that they probably haven't seen before.

 

I remember taking eggs into my primary school and the children in my class being surprisingly interested even though they thought I was a bit of a weirdo having chickens rather than a hamster or something!!

 

Good luck

[jellykelly]

Thankyou. I had had a look through there but since I don't actually know 'what' they're learning with regards to farm animals, I thought I'd just try and play it by ear.

I have visions of 60 4 and 5 year olds all talking at once and scrambling over each other to touch the chickens.

I'll let you all know how it goes on monday. I'm hoping that I can persuade the school to keep chickens themselves. I have raised the subject with them before but was told that there is too much health and safety paperwork to deal with.

I think thats a lame cop out!

[jellykelly]

Wow - That was a nightmare!!

 

I sectioned off an area of the reception years garden and placed the chickens in. The chickens were as good as gold and carried on with their chickeny behaviour.

60+ children march out, all exciteable and noisy and thats when things stopped going to plan! The kids all wanted to touch the chickens - that was ok, they waited patiently - but once all had stroked they got restless and noisy!

5 out of the 6 eggs I took in got broken. One poor kid ended up with one all down his front (his mum will be pleased).

The noise with 60 kids all yelling and informing me that one had poo'd was too much!

There was no role play or no decent talks as the kids hollered over everything that I said.

 

Still, It was an experience!

[littlehenny]

Oh my gosh you were brave to take 60 schoolkids on!!! It sounds like a nightmare but it did make me laugh, especially the broken egg down the kid's top I think the school could have organised things better and split the children into more manageable groups for you to talk to - then they might have been a bit quieter and got more from the experience. At least you can say you've done it and next time they ask you'd better have a good excuse at hand

[Heidi-Hi]

I totally agree that the school - or rather the Reception teachers - should have organised things better! That just sounds like total chaos to me! Well, you've done your bit now! Large glass of wine tonight sounds like a just reward

[AJuff]

Thankyou. I had had a look through there but since I don't actually know 'what' they're learning with regards to farm animals, I thought I'd just try and play it by ear.

I have visions of 60 4 and 5 year olds all talking at once and scrambling over each other to touch the chickens.

I'll let you all know how it goes on monday. I'm hoping that I can persuade the school to keep chickens themselves. I have raised the subject with them before but was told that there is too much health and safety paperwork to deal with.

I think thats a lame cop out!

 

 

I'm not sure it's such a lame cop out!! I am wading through the paperwork at the moment to get school hens in time for September. There are a whole raft of regulations to follow just to keep them . . and as for selling the eggs to parents . . there's a book on that in itself. I am determined to get them for school so i'm prepared to plough my way through the paperwork . .