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Starting to become irritated by the number of adverts I have seen for 'help mixed breed cockerels hatched during school project, much loved- requiring homes....' for goodness sake, i thought teachers are meant to be intelligent! ie, Explain to children half will be male and what a lovely roast they will make. i have just bravely shot someone down trying to rehome mixed breed school project cockerels on another forum - I am sick of these people - if you can't despatch then don't hatch!!!!!!!
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Last edited by petal; 09-04-2011, 05:30 PM. -
Agreed...(OR...keep quiet and stick them in your own freezer!!!)
Having said that- there are peeps who are 'happy enough' to despatch if the meat is then given then.
Yup- kids DO need to know where the vast majority of the boys go....that's part of the learning process which has gone on for centuries...."Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple
Location....Normandy France -
I agree too - and I wonder how much some of the teachers actually know from personal, practical experience about keeping chickens, once they've got to the end of the incubator instruction book!Comment
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It's not just school projects, it's almost everyone. I replied to a Freegle wanted ad the other day - someone asking for an incubator (bloody cheek in itself) because their children wanted to start hatching chicks - not because I had one to spare, I haven't, but to ask if they knew what they were doing and did they realise about the cocks etc etc. I probably came across quite heavy handed but I'm sick and tired of seeing ads offering up cocks to "good homes, not for the pot" which is what happens to those fluffy little chicks in 4 months' time. The appeal of fluffy chicks lasts for about a week max, as soon as the feathers start to come through the children lose interest fast.Comment
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oh, it is simply so irritating, isn't it? I bravely replied, well tackled someone on preloved who was asking for free hens and a free hen house, i pointed out to him that a vet bill can cost quite a bit - or was he intending to allow these freebies suffer? obviously his reply was quite rude. Ha!! the cheek of people though. I too am fed up with nincompoops contacting me asking to help with their cockerel problem. no, I don't want to despatch 10 of your cockerels, its upsetting, do it yourself and get lost!!Last edited by petal; 09-04-2011, 09:48 PM.Comment
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Now I would be happy enough to help someone with their cockerel problem, if I got some dinners out of it, but then I am not currently in a position to keep my own chooks, and there is nothing like the flavour of garden-grown chicken!!Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.Comment
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Just found out my local school is doing this too - have a friend who's just lost a hen, wanting to replace her who lives next door to a teacher at that school - so he's going to find out what they do with them. Shall report back!Comment
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Our school tries to find homes for the boys first but if we have no luck they are quietly taken away and eaten....Comment
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My wife is a deputy head and it's not the school getting rid of the birds. There are companies who bring in the eggs on day 18. They have candelled the eggs to make sure they all have chicks inside and they then hatch kept at the school for a week and the company take them away all for the price tag of £400. The school doesnt keep the chicks the company does. My wifes school did this one year but I have all the equipment so this year I have let them have the equipment to hatch at school free of charge. I was hatching anyway so I've saved on electricity and time and the kids have got to see hatching again. I have no issues with dispatching cockerals in fact that is what this lot is for.
If you are hatching is it worth contacting local schools and offering them the equipment for free or for a lower price?Comment
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£400?!?
I'm in the wrong industry.Comment
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exactly a right con. That's why I leant them the equipment £400 can go a long way for a schoolComment
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FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS!!! and the chicks probably go for reptile food so they will earn out of it that way too! and people won't pay for a proper henhouse.
I think the world is going absolutely MAD!!
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Reeeet - my update - the local school has hatched them, and it seems people can have them
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The work mate I usually mention has taken 3 chicks - [replacement for a hen that died suddenly]..they're quite big, I've no idea age wise, but I'd guess probably at least 3 weeks old (guessing, looking at photos online). Not sure what'll happen if they all turn out to be boys mind, as I assume that they're all hybrids (warrens?) ready for battery systems. They don't look like any autosexing breed, as far as I can tell, again from looking and reading around.Comment
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Oh right, MH, didn't think they'd be sold for that - I guess that's probably more accurate than my assumption!Comment
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Our school do this too. I found out last year when asked to donate some hatching eggs. I asked what happened to the chicks and they said they gave them away to interested parties. I suggested selling them with money going to the school which they thought was a good idea. We hatched 6 chicks, 3 of each sex, with two girls going to one family and a boy and girl going to another, I kept the remaining two boys and ran them with my meat boys and processed them in the usual way.Comment
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