Hen Project

Green Day Our project began through a whole school Sustainability project called ‘Green Day’. On ‘Green day’ the whole school dressed in green and brought a donation of £1.

Preparing for hens Reception classes focused on food - eggs from chickens. KS2 children assessed the school grounds and selected the best site. Enough space for two separate hen runs, lots of grass and a viewing gallery from school so that every child on their way to the dining hall can see them!

Preparing The Site KS2 children marked out the runs, measured a path for accessible access and planted spring bulbs. KS1 children set up a compost bin to recycle waste from the hens and fruit skins from their daily fruit stall.

Toffee, Vanilla and Fudge With the money we raised on Green Day we bought a red Omlet Eglu hen house with 100 free egg boxes and three lovely hens. We named them Vanilla, Toffee and Fudge!

Setbacks After only a few weeks the hens went missing presumed stolen. We were all very upset. When the sixth formers at Queen Elizabeth High School heard the news they took a collection and gave us enough money to buy three new hens and improve security. Despite our setback we went ahead and bought three lovely new hens.

Bluebell, Daisy and Dandelion Bluebell, Daisy and Dandelion are happy in their new home. We have enjoyed their lovely eggs which we sell to parents. This pays for their food.

Coop Troop The KS2 ‘Coop Troop’ clean the hens out every week and compost all the bedding. We hope that the compost we make will go into new raised beds next year so we can grow our own vegetables, which will of course be well away from the hungry hens!

Thinking of Keeping Hens? If your school is interested in keeping hens please come and pay us a visit. Mrs Jeffries will be happy to advise you on where to keep them and provide you with the legal paperwork.