Students at St Raphael's Catholic School are getting hands-on experience in poultry farming through their Stage 5 Agriculture class.
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This program integrates practical skills with theoretical knowledge and focuses on the entire process of raising chickens for egg production, from the initial egg to the laying hen.
The program also includes collaboration with the Stage 6 Construction class to build a functional chicken coop.
The unit ended with an educational trip to a local chicken farm.
The course is designed to give students a comprehensive understanding of chicken biology and the agricultural processes involved in egg production.
Starting with incubating eggs, students learn about the conditions necessary for successful hatching, including temperature and humidity control.
As the chicks hatch, students take responsibility for their care, as an integral part of the curriculum. Students learn about the importance of regular feeding, proper diet, and clean water.
They also gain skills in monitoring the health of the chickens, recognising signs of illness, and implementing preventative measures to ensure the flock remains healthy.
To cap off the unit of work, the students visited a local chicken farm that specialises in egg production.
This visit provided a real-world perspective on large-scale poultry farming, allowing students to see the differences between small-scale and commercial operations.
This allowed the students to see how the animals are cared for at such a large scale, looking at the costing as well as the highly relevant biosecurity measures that need to be taken to maintain the farm and its profitability.
In the future, it is anticipated that the students will be developing the school chicken flock in the hope to be able to show the birds at local agricultural shows, enabling them to build their knowledge of poultry standards and animal showing.
