Chickens at school (UPDATE pg 2)

[Maggies Pop]

Hi folks!

Our School Director and I were chatting and we thought it might be kind of neat to have a couple (2-3) chickens in a small coop at our school. We are establishing a nice little garden there and thought it would be a good addition. We are a charter school, which means we are a public school that has a little bit more freedom in how we teach our kids but still have to follow the same testing, etc to make sure the kids are learning along with the rest of the schools.

When I contacted one of the ladies on our board who works for the school district to find out who I might talk to about this, this was her response:

I would talk with Korby about this but my two bits is that this might constitute a health hazard for the children. Would the chickens be caged? Even so, chickens carry all sorts of foul (sorry for the bad pun) stuff and a child with any type of open cut might be susceptible to contacting something. Cautious yes but maybe wise too.

I've had chickens of my own for a few years now. But I certainly am no expert. Yes, we would have a coop for them. But what kind of "foul stuff" could the children get from the chickens? Can anyone help me out here?

any info would be greatly appreciated!! I wasn't really sure where to post this.....​

 

[Denninmi]

This doesn't address your basic question about the health issues, but it is interesting:

http://poultrykeeper.com/chickens/poultry-keeper-s-chicken-stories/keeping-chickens-at-school.html

 

[kareninthesun]

I taught at a preschool which was right next to a very popular well known charter preschool. Ours had rabbits, ducks, chickens and geese. (got rid of the geese becaue they were protective of the children, hated adults). All the animals were kept outside, had their own respective homes and pens, but were allowed under strict supervision outside during quiet animal times. The children had daily access and interacted with all to the point of spoiling. Like any other time, part of coming inside meant a stop at the sink first to wash with soap, dry with paper towels. Before handling the animals, same thing. The children were responsible for feeding/watering the animals after the teachers first cleaned the dishes free of all bacteria. The children learned much about what it takes to care responsibly for animals, and had excellent visuals for examples. We also hatched eggs in an incubator once a year, teaching patience, vulnerability and appreciation on a level easily understood.

Is a child more likely to become ill if they live on a farm or ranch? If anything, a child is more likely to become ill simply in going to school. If anything, this teaches them the importance of hygene. BTW, we also had parents remove their children from the other school and intergrate them into ours. Never the other way around. We taught the same things, the price structures were the same, the only difference was in adding the animals as daily instruction.

 

[Maggies Pop]

Quote:
What you described is EXACTLY what I want! lol It's just trying to get the powers that be let me do it. Thank you for letting me know about the program. Does the school have a website link that I could use in my response back to the school district? I found one school that is doing this in the next county over from us, but they are a private waldorf school that can do differently since they are a private school.

Denninmi-thank you for the link....just read it! Saving it in my school garden file to use in my arsenal! lol

 

[kareninthesun]

The owners of the preschool retired, so they no longer have the preschool. You might check with elementary schools that used to have magnet programs which were strong in sciences.

 

[dretd]

Quote:
I would love a little clarification, please. Was it the charter preschool public and your preschool private? I guess I am not sure what a charter prechool is? I love the idea of animals at this level.

I do know that our local public elementary school eliminated all animals except fish because of health conerns for the children. It wasn't just the bacterial contamination, but many folks have allergies and they didn't want to have any child be exposed to something that could be problematic to underlying health states. Same thing with nuts- there was one child that had severe peanut reactions and the teacher asked that others did not bring in nut products out of respect for that student.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

You need to find out if there are any health department rules that your school must follow. Each spring, a local preschool which also contains an elementary school hatches my birds' eggs. This is a private school; the preschool must follow health department rules for preschools, which include disallowing some specific types of animals. Chickens are not allowed, neither are turtles/tortoises. I cannot recall if they allow or disallowed the tarantula (rule change). Elementary portion of the school does not fall under these restrictions.

Not sure if preschool classes that are in district public schools fall under the health department rules or not.

Anyways, salmonella is the thing that is most likely to be a concern, although NPIP participation and typhoid pullorum testing will rule that out. The real concerns are general bacteria you might find anywhere (including e. coli). Proper care of the birds and their environment as well as proper hygiene for the humans, including correct handwashing (which most kids do not follow) should take care of real concerns. Both of these are good learning opportunities for the kids.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I would love a little clarification, please. Was it the charter preschool public and your preschool private? I guess I am not sure what a charter prechool is? I love the idea of animals at this level.

I do know that our local public elementary school eliminated all animals except fish because of health conerns for the children. It wasn't just the bacterial contamination, but many folks have allergies and they didn't want to have any child be exposed to something that could be problematic to underlying health states. Same thing with nuts- there was one child that had severe peanut reactions and the teacher asked that others did not bring in nut products out of respect for that student.

A charter school my son attended from 2nd through 5th grades also has a preschool. Not sure if this might have been what was meant?

 

[kyeschicks]

Neat idea! hopefully you'll be able to raise chickens there

 

[Maggies Pop]

Thanks to you all for your replies! Keep the info and ideas coming! I am keeping notes and soaking up all you have to offer!

I would love, love, love to implement chickens to our garden yard. We are a charter school--K-6th grade. About 63 kids. Very small school. We kind of stand out from the others around because we are small and different. I am hoping to add to our "uniqueness".