As part of the Garden Connections project, we will be keeping chickens at the school. This also links into our WW2 garden project, where we are looking at the issues of food self-sufficiency through the wartime 'dig for victory' initaitive. We have purchased a chicken house and a fox-proof pen is being erected.
Keeping chickens will provide a wealth of opportunities for the children to discover more about how to care for animals, research their needs and behave calmly and confidently around them. They will also have the opportunity to work on the maths of feed costs, and deciding how much to sell the eggs for. The first decision they will be making is whether to get chickens rescued from intensive egg production or another, specific breed.
In time, we could potentially extend this project to raising heritage breeds, and even to competing at local agricultural shows!
We are looking for a few more families or individuals who can help to help us with the care of the chickens during weekends and school holidays, no experience needed and we pay in eggs! We are also eager to hear from children or adults with experience in keeping chickens, to help us to put together an excellent care plan. It is very important that our chickens will be healthy, well fed, safe and happy. Please contact the Apple Tree Initiative team if you are interested.
Our thanks to Karen and Nick Watts and their children Charlie and Millie for erecting the chicken house and assembling the feeder.