The jobs are actually always the children's favourite bit of the lesson - they want to take care of the chickens, it makes them feel grown up and in charge. There aren’t many opportunities for children of that age to feel responsible for something as big as the life of an animal. It’s also really valuable for children to learn practical skills - they clean them out, collect the eggs and feed them.
They’re great for soft skills too, and a fantastic way of getting kids involved with nature, climate change and where our food comes from, which I think is especially important for those living in cities who might otherwise not get the opportunity to engage with nature. I use them to tie into lessons - for example, we learned about the strength of arches by standing on eggs, or about levers by balancing the chickens on our arms. ARE YOUR CHICKENS USEFUL WHEN IT COMES TO TEACHING SCHOOLCHILDREN?Įllie: Absolutely. Some children will always be frightened of them, but they can still take part - we just try and keep a fence between them and the birds so they feel more comfortable.ĥ.
It’s also great for those who struggle in the classroom - they can come out into the garden and thrive with the practical side of things, which is often a much-needed confidence boost! Some might be a bit more reluctant, but once their friends start having fun and they can see it’s safe that tends to encourage them. WAS IT HARD TO GET THE KIDS INVOLVED WITH THE SCHOOL CHICKENS?Įllie: Lots of them are really nervous about the chickens to begin with, but it’s really good for building their confidence. Learn more about keeping chickens at in cities in our "ask the expert". That was a great start, but mostly I’ve just read books and information online - there’s loads out there, so you can pick it up quite easily.
TANGERINE CHICKEN AT SCHOOL HOW TO
AFTER GETTING YOUR HEN FLOCK STARTED, WHERE DID YOU GO FOR SUPPORT OR TRAINING?Įllie: I contacted Sara from Hen Corner, who came in and did a session on chickens with the children, teaching them how to pick them up and look after them. Luckily though, I’ve got a workforce of hundreds of children to do that for me! They’ll also dig up everything in your garden given half a chance.ģ. ARE YOUR CHICKENS EVER HARD TO TAKE CARE OF?Įllie: They never stop pooing, it’s just constant, so you have to enjoy cleaning them out. Don’t keep the boys - cockerels fight and they’ll wake up the neighbours and, of course, keeping cockerels and hens together means you might soon end up overrun by chickens! 2. The girls are quite easy to keep, but I probably wouldn’t recommend keeping more than ten or so chickens in school. HOW BIG IS YOUR FLOCK OF SCHOOL CHICKENS?Įllie: We had 4 chickens to begin with, but we’ve now grown to 7. It may sound unusual to have chickens in schools but the star attraction at Fielding is a flock of egg-laying, physics-teaching hens, so we asked her how other schools could follow suit and set up flocks of their own. Keeping Chickens in Schools | How it worksĮllie Lock runs the garden at Fielding Primary School in London.
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