Unsecure chicken perches

[AJuff]

Today our school held a Green Day for sustainability. Each child dressed in green and donated £1. The money raised from 460 children is going towards a cube and six hens. It's all very exciting! The children voted today on what colour cube they would like . . can't wait to see the results tomorrow.

 

Does anyone know of or work in a school with hens? What policies and procedures have you got in place re; if a hen gets sick, how often to worm, selling eggs safely, what to do in the holidays etc etc.

 

Also are Omlet still selling blue cubes? There didn't seem to be any in the shop area.

[chicken bark]

That's a brilliant idea.

[AJuff]

Well so far the top two votes are 109 for pink and 105 for a red cube. Only one more class of results to come in . . . .

[green]

What a great idea!

[Egluntyne]

My three pekins live down at a local school during term time. They come to me during the hols. Re illnesses etc, they are dealt with by me. I worm them during the holidays, and eggs are sold to pay for the hen's food. Everything else is funded by me.

 

The children take it in turn to care for the hens, a class each week, under supervision. Risk assessments etc have been done.

 

They are a fantastically popular addition to the school, and it is well worth all the effort.

 

I was invited to an assembly all about the chickens on one occasion..

[Purplemaniacs]

The school I work at is working towards its eco school status and I have suggested some chickens, but the cost of an eglu or cube would put them off.

 

I had not thought about moving some of mine to school in term time, that also sorts out the problem of the holidays. My class had thought about a pet, rabbit / guinea pig but the class would have to cover the cost of the food etc. Chickens, we could sell the eggs and that would help towards the cost.

 

Any more advice Egluntyne?

 

Chrissie

[LJ's Chooks]

Maybe it should be a green cube???

[Purplemaniacs]

Good thinking but I love

 

Chrissie

[AJuff]

Any chance of seeing their risk assessments? Might save me time writing my own!!!

[Egluntyne]

Why not use the Omlet one and tweak it to suit your needs. That's what we did.

 

**Click**

[migsy]

I'm sure the boys will be unimpressed if pink wins.

[AJuff]

I think I'll tweak the results to red if need be!!!! Their uniform is red!!! Also I didn't realsie Omlet produced a risk assessment. Thank you so much.

[Lewis]

How

 

Wish our school did that!

 

Maybe I can convince the Uni farm they need chickens?

[AJuff]

As I am going to be responsible for the hens it will mean extra work for me in my teaching day. I'll have to let them out before the bell rings and get them back into the run before i go home. However i think they'll be such an asset and the children will love them!

[AJuff]

Not sure whether to advise a cube and 6 hens or an eglu with extension and 3 hens. Eglu is transportable for interested parents to take them home in the hols. Decisions, decisions. . . .

 

Red won the vote!!!

[Guest]

Eglu if parents want to take them home over the holidays.

[chicken bark]

IMO you'd need a 6m run for the cube if you were keeping 6 in there with no free ranging. That sounds expensive. An eglu with a run and convertor for 3 sounds much more manageable.

 

I believe red is the colour that encourages chickens to lay the most - so good colour choice!

[migsy]

Glad red won! Everyone will be happy. Can they FR all day then? If so get lots! Kids will love them so much and there will be plenty of eggs to sell. I wish the school that my boys go to had some chickens. However, I'm sure Manchester LEA would think it far too risky in terms of Health and Safety. They ban all sorts here. At a toddler group I used to go to they banned feeder cups (the ones with 2 handles and a spout) incase they harbour bacteria

[AJuff]

They willonly bein the run from the time I leave work untilI let themout in the morning during the working week. They will have access to free range all day. It's theweekends that they'll have to be in the run all day so that's why I'm considering 3 hens in a eglu run with extension. I am a little surprised at the price . . .I hadn't realised they were much. Eglus cost £65 more than I paid.

[Guest]

I would go for bantams. Since they might be a little easier for the kiddies to hold. I know 1 school near me who has a flock of 8 pekin bantams all different colours and they free range. I know the eggs are tiny but they are really easy to handle and really cute.

[AJuff]

Well what a productive week! The contractor has put in the fence posts ready for the chicken wire to go on this Friday. The red eglu and three metre run arrives on Friday too. I will choose three hens for school during the last weekend of half term and put them in to settle down for the weekend before the children arrive on Monday!!! They will be so excited!!

[poachedegg]

Bet the children can't wait - what a fab idea!

[Egluntyne]

Fantastic!

[laurmurf]

Well done!

I wonder if I could offer some support to the primary my children went to and where i was a governor.

[madchickenlady]

Aw, this is great! My sons class is considering hatching some eggs in my incubator in the spring as a class project. The idea was that I'd rehome any resulting chicks, but I wonder if they'd consider keeping some?