Concerned and need some advice

[petal]

its great that someone appeared to see to the chickens but the fact of the matter is - they must always, always have access to water, no matter what. You could politely recommend some larger feeders/ water containers.
I am very concerned by the trend for schools to hatch chicks, then off load the cockerels onto other people to sort out. I must admit, we will be hatching a batch at my school this term but they will all be coming back to me once the interesting incubation and aah fluffy stage is over. Regular updates will be given to the group of boys on their development and we will be eating the cockerels, I don't think the boys will have a problem with that, they love hearing about how to kill and gut- just in case there is a zombie apocolypse and they have to live off the land!.. This group of boys work every lunchtime on the school allotment with me and are a great bunch. They are certainly learning about recycling and make do and mend, as we are a private school we are not eligible for all the grants state schools can apparently get for running such a scheme.

[BigShot]

Petal... would it be outrageous to suggest taking them through the whole process from egg to kill to butcher to plate?
I know some parents would hit the roof about their little angels being taught the reality of what they eat, but I've never been so sensitive about it and imagine many young'uns would really appreciate that side of food.

[RichmondHens]

Petal... would it be outrageous to suggest taking them through the whole process from egg to kill to butcher to plate?
I know some parents would hit the roof about their little angels being taught the reality of what they eat, but I've never been so sensitive about it and imagine many young'uns would really appreciate that side of food.

My 9 yo nephew is apparently very keen to learn how to gut a chicken - my brother is going to cull some of his old hens in a few weeks for him to practise on.

[BigShot]

RH... Lucky for the 9yo... unlucky for the hens.
That's life though. *shrug*

Does anyone know where the whole myth of delicate kids came from? Or is it just projection from delicate parents?

[chris]

I'd love for my kids to have an active interest in this sort of thing - and that, is one of the major reasons why I grow veg/fruit, and now keep chickens.

[Gwyndy]

I would have no hesitation in reporting this sort of neglect if it happens again.

[Hilary B]

RH... Lucky for the 9yo... unlucky for the hens.
That's life though. *shrug*

Does anyone know where the whole myth of delicate kids came from? Or is it just projection from delicate parents?

My guess is that people have a very 'rose tinted' view of children. When they did the 'living in the past' thing, the children were quite happy about the pig-killing, their parents were NOT happy at all!
Children are much more realistic than people give them credit for, unless they have been carefully taught otherwise!

[VirginVegGrower]

Being an animal owner doesn't necessarily equal responsibility in some people's eyes. Schools need to think twice before inflicting pain and suffering on animals. Ring the RSPCA if it happens again.

[polo]

Petal... would it be outrageous to suggest taking them through the whole process from egg to kill to butcher to plate?
I know some parents would hit the roof about their little angels being taught the reality of what they eat, but I've never been so sensitive about it and imagine many young'uns would really appreciate that side of food.

I am proud of the fact my daughter (who eats meat) knows where it comes from and would be more than happy to raise any boys for the pot. Its important to know where your food comes from and how its processed. I personally think its more of a worrying fact that these details are kept from children - I would prefer DD to be able to make her decisions based on facts not blissful ignorance. I don't this taking them through the process is bad at all but you may need to go gently!

One of my hens died from unknown causes a couple of months back. I did a basic autopsy of sorts and DD was so interested she took the photos - they are on here somewhere. She learnt a lot more about anatomy that day than she ever would from a text book and bizarrely enough it helped us both to deal with the upset. Good luck!

Polo

[BigShot]

My guess is that people have a very 'rose tinted' view of children. When they did the 'living in the past' thing, the children were quite happy about the pig-killing, their parents were NOT happy at all!
Children are much more realistic than people give them credit for, unless they have been carefully taught otherwise!

Sounds right to me.
It seems they are so keen to avoid upsetting their angels they haven't stopped to consider if it actually WOULD.

Completely agree about being carefully taught otherwise.

I am proud of the fact my daughter (who eats meat) knows where it comes from and would be more than happy to raise any boys for the pot. Its important to know where your food comes from and how its processed. I personally think its more of a worrying fact that these details are kept from children - I would prefer DD to be able to make her decisions based on facts not blissful ignorance. I don't this taking them through the process is bad at all but you may need to go gently!

Lucky kid.
I'm sure mine will be raising eyebrows when I'm blessed with young'uns.
I'll be teaching them to pluck feathers, handle knives and so on from an early age - if current trends continue I'll probably end up in trouble for that but to hell with it. I'm not raising ignorant kids.

Maybe some will decided animals aren't for eating - and I'd be happy with that - but I sure as heck won't be sheltering them from the facts about their food.

[Hilary B]

A few years ago now my daughter (then aged about 26 and married less than a year) spotted something interesting (to her). Her husband was not entirely happy when she wanted to collect the road-killed deer, but she brought it here, and she and I skinned and butcherd it, gaining enough venison for a dozen or more meals for all of us!
When we had the farm, lambs that were not marketable ended up in our own freezer (usually as mutton, slaughtered at 18 months) and since it was a long journey to the abattoir, and expensive, a neighbour who had the necessary licence came and shot them, and helped us with the processing. He helped with a lot of the work, so he ate dinner with us most evenings. Seemed like a good deal. He also shot rabbits (which would otherwise have been a nuisance to all the farmers) and occasionally other edible wild creatures. We ate well, in spite of never having any money!
There are also suicidal pheasants around here.....

[Jamesy_uk]

Just a quick update I have been keeping an eye on the chickens they seem to be doing well and have food and water when I have popped in for surprise inspections. I think I put the wind up the teacher when I had a quiet word mentioning the RSPCA, good job as well and the funny part in all this it has got me wanting my own chickens more than ever.

Wifey isn't impressed with the idea but I think I will build a coop on advice and plans from here and ask forgiveness at a later date , she never goes in the garage anyway she won;t notice until its done lol.

[Mikey]

She might notice you're missing (not undertaking chores!) though.

[Mikey]

There are also suicidal pheasants around here.....

Aslong as they are suicidal under somebody else's car that's ok.

[Hilary B]

Aslong as they are suicidal under somebody else's car that's ok.

Yeah, we know that one.
A few times we've seen one hit by the car in front, more often we've noticed an undamaged-looking one on the road side and found it still warm...
There are several dozen 'not worth bothering too look' and at least a dozen 'been dead too long' for every usable one we find, but they do make an occasional treat.