Today was one of the first days I have not liked the results of living on a farm.
As I've mentioned before, we've got lots and LOTS of chickens right now - an absolutely ridiculous amount of chickens. In no way am I denying that! But my mom posted them on craigslist and some guy came to get them this afternoon and I just didn't like him.
For starters, he brought those teeny tiny chicken crates - you know, kinda like this. Four of those little things for his intended 40 chickens. He said he just bought his daughter a new farm and she wanted chickens, so he'd like to take all 40 chickens my mom mentioned. I'm sorry, but no way does someone want 40 freakin feral chickens!!!
On top of that, when he came to get the ones we had caught during the day, he just reached in and grabbed the chickens by their wings, by their legs ... by whatever and then he'd shove them into that little chicken crate/cage thing. It was awful. Ugh.
Thankfully, we'd only caught 17 when he got here and he took them, but I feel super bad for whereever those 17 went. I'm trying not to think about it...
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickens. Show all posts
Monday, September 7, 2009
Friday, September 12, 2008
Chickens Saved by First Grader Expose Hatching Project Horrors
I'm taking the Dogs on Thursday idea and running with it so I've got more articles to add to my blog. Enjoy "Farm-life Friday!" :)
Original Story
As kids head back to school at the start of September, teachers everywhere are implementing curricula to enhance students’ learning experiences and instill knowledge in them to last a lifetime. Though well-intentioned these planned lessons may be, some will unfortunately involve students’ complicity in animal exploitation. Among those class assignments which seem harmless to many at first glance, but cause more damage than good – including zoo field trips and animal dissection labs – is the hatching of chicks to teach the life cycle.
Prevalent in schools both urban and rural, hatching projects not only contribute to the senseless suffering of countless animals, but also send a message to kids that living creatures are disposable. Regrettably, the hard-to-swallow truths behind these projects are not often realized by participants and their parents until it’s too late to change their outcome. That is, unless someone already knows to speak up to stop animal abuse when they see it – someone like Manhattan PS 234 first grader, Rose McCoy, who along with her mom, Emily, sprung into action after her class embarked on such a lesson, leading 16 ill-fated chicks to our New York Shelter.
According to Emily, proud parent of 7-year-old Rose, the hatching project, conducted by four PS 234 elementary school classrooms, began in April after being added to the curriculum earlier last year without her knowledge or consent. The lesson involved each class incubating about a dozen eggs. Of those incubated in Rose’s class, six hatched and only four survived. In another class all the chicks died. It didn’t take long for fatalities, Emily said, to become the hallmark of the lesson – a reality that disturbed, rather than educated, Rose.
“The problem we’ve seen with hatching projects like this is that since the chicks are being used like inanimate teaching tools instead of valued as sentient creatures, their welfare rarely enters the equation,” said National Shelter Director Susie Coston. “Add to that the fact that you’re dealing with extremely fragile chicks, who need very special care, and you get a recipe for disaster: high mortality rates, illness, deformities, and injuries. That’s a lot of suffering for life lessons that can be humanely and more accurately taught through alternative means.”
The PS 234 hatching project culminated with a school celebration originally intended to send the chicks off to a poultry farm outside of New York City, where they would have entered into production if they hadn’t been rescued by Rose and Emily. After negotiating the chicks’ release, the McCoys arranged for their safe transport to Farm Sanctuary, where the week-old birds – including one with a severely-injured leg from being handled incorrectly – were monitored closely and cared for ‘round the clock during their first critical weeks of life.
“The children, especially Rose, naturally felt affection for the chicks and were devastated when they died. The sad reality is that there is no real difference between the chicks who passed away in the classroom and the ones being raised for slaughter at the farm – the kids just haven’t gotten close to the birds at the farm and won’t witness their deaths,” said Emily. “I learned years ago that there is nothing natural about the way commercial chickens are raised, beginning with factory breeding practices and ending with the hatching of chicks who never know their moms. At the end of the day, the lesson plan failed to show kids the truth.”
In lieu of a PS 234 first grade class’ field trip to see chickens being raised for meat and eggs at a poultry farm in New Jersey, Rose, with family in tow, visited Farm Sanctuary instead, where, in addition to bonding with a rooster named Fennel, she checked up on the chicks and with the help of her father, Padraic, aptly named one Saoirse, a strong Irish name meaning “freedom.” Now, as the McCoys continue cultivating compassion with teachers and administrators at PS 234, Saoirse and the other chickens are sowing seeds as well – teaching visitors to the shelter about the hidden plight of animals raised for food and the miracle of all life.
Do you know or have a child in school? Visit farmsanctuarykids.org today to learn more about how kids can promote alternatives to animal experimentation and help animals in their classrooms. If you are a teacher and you would like to sow some seeds of compassion with your students, order our Cultivating Compassion materials for lesson plans, hand outs and classroom activities!
Original Story
Original Story
As kids head back to school at the start of September, teachers everywhere are implementing curricula to enhance students’ learning experiences and instill knowledge in them to last a lifetime. Though well-intentioned these planned lessons may be, some will unfortunately involve students’ complicity in animal exploitation. Among those class assignments which seem harmless to many at first glance, but cause more damage than good – including zoo field trips and animal dissection labs – is the hatching of chicks to teach the life cycle.
Prevalent in schools both urban and rural, hatching projects not only contribute to the senseless suffering of countless animals, but also send a message to kids that living creatures are disposable. Regrettably, the hard-to-swallow truths behind these projects are not often realized by participants and their parents until it’s too late to change their outcome. That is, unless someone already knows to speak up to stop animal abuse when they see it – someone like Manhattan PS 234 first grader, Rose McCoy, who along with her mom, Emily, sprung into action after her class embarked on such a lesson, leading 16 ill-fated chicks to our New York Shelter.
According to Emily, proud parent of 7-year-old Rose, the hatching project, conducted by four PS 234 elementary school classrooms, began in April after being added to the curriculum earlier last year without her knowledge or consent. The lesson involved each class incubating about a dozen eggs. Of those incubated in Rose’s class, six hatched and only four survived. In another class all the chicks died. It didn’t take long for fatalities, Emily said, to become the hallmark of the lesson – a reality that disturbed, rather than educated, Rose.
“The problem we’ve seen with hatching projects like this is that since the chicks are being used like inanimate teaching tools instead of valued as sentient creatures, their welfare rarely enters the equation,” said National Shelter Director Susie Coston. “Add to that the fact that you’re dealing with extremely fragile chicks, who need very special care, and you get a recipe for disaster: high mortality rates, illness, deformities, and injuries. That’s a lot of suffering for life lessons that can be humanely and more accurately taught through alternative means.”
The PS 234 hatching project culminated with a school celebration originally intended to send the chicks off to a poultry farm outside of New York City, where they would have entered into production if they hadn’t been rescued by Rose and Emily. After negotiating the chicks’ release, the McCoys arranged for their safe transport to Farm Sanctuary, where the week-old birds – including one with a severely-injured leg from being handled incorrectly – were monitored closely and cared for ‘round the clock during their first critical weeks of life.
“The children, especially Rose, naturally felt affection for the chicks and were devastated when they died. The sad reality is that there is no real difference between the chicks who passed away in the classroom and the ones being raised for slaughter at the farm – the kids just haven’t gotten close to the birds at the farm and won’t witness their deaths,” said Emily. “I learned years ago that there is nothing natural about the way commercial chickens are raised, beginning with factory breeding practices and ending with the hatching of chicks who never know their moms. At the end of the day, the lesson plan failed to show kids the truth.”
In lieu of a PS 234 first grade class’ field trip to see chickens being raised for meat and eggs at a poultry farm in New Jersey, Rose, with family in tow, visited Farm Sanctuary instead, where, in addition to bonding with a rooster named Fennel, she checked up on the chicks and with the help of her father, Padraic, aptly named one Saoirse, a strong Irish name meaning “freedom.” Now, as the McCoys continue cultivating compassion with teachers and administrators at PS 234, Saoirse and the other chickens are sowing seeds as well – teaching visitors to the shelter about the hidden plight of animals raised for food and the miracle of all life.
Do you know or have a child in school? Visit farmsanctuarykids.org today to learn more about how kids can promote alternatives to animal experimentation and help animals in their classrooms. If you are a teacher and you would like to sow some seeds of compassion with your students, order our Cultivating Compassion materials for lesson plans, hand outs and classroom activities!
Original Story
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Chickens, ducklings, oh my!
A former rescue buddy of mine called up my house today to say that she'd driven past her local shelter this morning (at this time of year is so hot and dangerous for animals just abandoned outside shelters). What did she find? 3 chickens in a cage! This rescue friend took them to work with her in a make-shift covered pen in her truck bed. In calling me for info (we're both more of cat rescuers, but I have a farm so she hoped I had contacts), she got a hold of my mom who said we'd take the chickens. So, chickens are on the way. More animals ...
My family just got ducks as well - baby ducks. A local kindergarten class hatched and raised them and then just started giving them away as they started to get their feathers. Since we have a lake, my dad got in touch with them and we got 2 of the 8 (I don't even know where the other 6 went). It aggravates me that the education system still takes in eggs to hatch and raise ducklings/chicks with no idea what they'll be doing with these babies when they're too big to be any more "fun".
I remember being younger and thinking that whole deal was awesome, but now that I'm older, the lack of forethought of what to do with these animals is really aggravating. These animals shouldn't just be abandoned or given up after a period of time ... what kind of message is that?! I have no objection to classroom pets, but they should be taken care of by the teacher throughout the pet's lifetime and during the school year, whether in the class or taken home by students over the weekends to be cared for. I know not everyone will agree with me, but that's my opinion. I think animals in the classroom can be a wonderful experience and great way to teach responsibility, but only when that responsibility is actually honored!
“I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs... [They] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.” –James Herriot
My family just got ducks as well - baby ducks. A local kindergarten class hatched and raised them and then just started giving them away as they started to get their feathers. Since we have a lake, my dad got in touch with them and we got 2 of the 8 (I don't even know where the other 6 went). It aggravates me that the education system still takes in eggs to hatch and raise ducklings/chicks with no idea what they'll be doing with these babies when they're too big to be any more "fun".
I remember being younger and thinking that whole deal was awesome, but now that I'm older, the lack of forethought of what to do with these animals is really aggravating. These animals shouldn't just be abandoned or given up after a period of time ... what kind of message is that?! I have no objection to classroom pets, but they should be taken care of by the teacher throughout the pet's lifetime and during the school year, whether in the class or taken home by students over the weekends to be cared for. I know not everyone will agree with me, but that's my opinion. I think animals in the classroom can be a wonderful experience and great way to teach responsibility, but only when that responsibility is actually honored!
“I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs... [They] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.” –James Herriot
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