Chickens in School??

[klb25]

When my son was in middle school they had chickens. They built the coop and everything.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

There are numerous schools in Houston that have coops.
Here is one.
https://www.houstonisd.org/Domain/52247

I love how they named one after Maria Montessori

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Which Congress person said this? Do you have a link to this? I would love to share w family as we have a small farm.

Appears fabricated, and has been attributed to a number of different politicians

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-...urfaces-ahead-of-georgia-runoff-idUSKBN28V2TK

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...asio-cortez-and-eliminating-farms/6352701001/

Now, there IS a New York STATE legislator who proposed banning USPS from transporting live chicks in the State, which would instantly cut off most chicken owners from their supply of birds (but would not, of course, affect the large producers). I could find similar stupidity from others. And one of the midwest states just passed a (loosely) "free range chicken act" which will push some backyard owners out of legal ownership (or drastically reduce flock sizes) until their towns update their ordinances. I've read the Statute, linked it for another poster asking about zoning, but faster to find a lousy "news" source for it than link the actual text.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and yes, subject to zoning restrictions, a number of schools (often private and/or religious) maintain small flocks, though liability concerns (among others) are making the practice less and less wide spread. The trend in public schools prior to University is towards a "no animals" policy whatsoever. Liability drives it, but what to do with the animals on weekends, holidays, and when school is "closed" for the summer are also factors. Ultimately, its budget.

 

[Iluveggers]

Appears fabricated, and has been attributed to a number of different politicians

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-...urfaces-ahead-of-georgia-runoff-idUSKBN28V2TK

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...asio-cortez-and-eliminating-farms/6352701001/

Now, there IS a New York STATE legislator who proposed banning USPS from transporting live chicks in the State, which would instantly cut off most chicken owners from their supply of birds (but would not, of course, affect the large producers). I could find similar stupidity from others. And one of the midwest states just passed a (loosely) "free range chicken act" which will push some backyard owners out of legal ownership (or drastically reduce flock sizes) until their towns update their ordinances. I've read the Statute, linked it for another poster asking about zoning, but faster to find a lousy "news" source for it than link the actual text.

Thanks for that info, @U_Stormcrow

 

[TheCluckyClucker2]

I think it depends a lot on the staff as to whether the school has a flock or not. My private school does not have any animals. They let us have guinea pigs as class pets but they would never think about chickens. I know this because I somewhat know the people who run the school. They dont have livestock. In fact, they live in the most expensive neighborhoods in town. They own small dogs and cats and don't know how wonderful it is to own chickens. I hope you have luck with your school!

 

[DickMidnight]

They dont have livestock. In fact, they live in the most expensive neighborhoods in town.

owning chickens and living in affluent neighborhoods aren’t mutually exclusive.

 

[CoconutCoffee]

On the surface, I think it's a GREAT idea! However, this is 2021, not 1951, and I can't see a school anywhere getting into something like this for the liability issues alone.

Then there's the issue of cleanliness, and we all know birds are not very clean animals, upkeep of their living conditions, and feeding/watering. Who is going to take care of all of that? What happens when one of the students gets salmonella? See where I'm going with this?

Selling eggs? No way; they'd have the health department on top of them in a matter of days. If the health department didn't stop the practice, I'm sure you can imagine the lawsuits were someone to believe they got sick from "school eggs". The list goes on and on and on, but this is the screwed up world we live in these days.

The education is badly needed however. How bad is it? It's so bad that there is at least one member of our US Congress, a current member, that said we don't need farms because we have grocery stores...

Good luck though. I'd like to see you make it work; I just think you're facing an uphill battle.

Also the possibility of vandals. Honestly thats the first place my mind went to. Then there's the horror stories of twisted teachers killing animals to teach kids about "life and death" or whatever.

 

[Lizzy733]

Our local school got 4 - one for each school house - and named them accordingly.

Within a week, one was stepped on by one of the children and died - they just replaced it with another and gave it the same name.

Not sure I'm happy with the message that conveys...

I did put my hand up to help when they asked for advice and assistance with setting up, but was never contacted.

Their coop\run is a reasonable setup for what they have, but I don't think they did enough planning around the actual management of their birds going into it.

 

[Starburst]

Thank you everyone for your feedback, thoughts, and knowledge on the subject. I would be one of the "managers" of the project, so to speak, so I would be there to make sure the chickens are well cared for. After speaking with the head of the school, she thinks that, while it is an incredible idea and that the educational value is great, her one concern is getting the ok from the entire district. She thinks that they would agree to all the reasoning, but are most afraid of doing something "new."
She told me that if I found any articles on public schools (preferably in Washington State), that raised a resident flock, she thinks that would greatly help in this mission.
If any of you happen to see such articles, I would love a link to them!