The Chick Inn Returns!
This year, with COVID guidelines being more lenient, the Chick Inn, otherwise known as the SHS chicken coop, has returned! Mrs. VanGordon brought in 16 chickens for the students in agriculture classes to raise.
This is a large advantage for students who are enrolled in either Mrs. VanGordon or Mrs. Koenen’s agriculture classes.
“The chicken coop provides students with a hands-on way to learn about animal care, safety, and responsibility,” new Ag Science teacher Mrs. Koenen states.
The Chick Inn is completely student based, right down to the nitty gritty of cleaning it out whenever it requires it.
“Students are in charge of making sure the chickens have food and water, the coop is clean, that the chickens have the proper bedding. They are even in charge of going to the store to purchase the chicken feed, even though FFA does pay them for it.”
The chickens are at the school for the majority of the school year after they are dropped off. However, during the summer they are raised elsewhere.
“Every year the chickens will be sent to a new home for the summer time and around the fall new chicks will be hatched and will be raised at home and then once they are big enough they will be brought to the school coop,” says senior and FFA President Tim Biggs.
Mrs. Koenen believes that students need to be exposed to how our food gets to our plates, even in small ways.
“It’s important for students to understand where their food comes from – by being exposed to even a very small part of agriculture they are better able to understand it,” Koenen says.
After the chickens lay their eggs and are acquired by the students, they go to a couple different places.
Koenen shares, “The eggs are either given to other classes or programs to make items such as breakfast burritos and sandwiches or they are sold to other teachers for $2 a dozen.”
The chickens here at the school are a very good way for people to understand how to take care of animals, especially when you use them for food. Make sure to stop by the coop and check them out!
