[awhitty]

Haha, I have to assume so, but honestly I didn't spend much time in the chicken coop because I thought it smelled bad. I'm not sure where the eggs went, also. And yea, on reflection, it probably wasn't, like, above-board to have kids working with live animals in school? I remember a friend getting pecked by a chicken once. This was a pretty agg-y area in New Mexico and most everyone I grew up with had at least some animals on their land, so it wasn't unusual.

[jaggederest]

> And yea, on reflection, it probably wasn't, like, above-board to have kids working with live animals in school?

How will children learn to care for and appreciate animals if they don't interact with them? I think, rather than "not above-board", it's vital.

[rcoveson]

But what about the allergens? The risk of salmonella? Have you seen the damage an angy chicken can do with those claws? I've heard that Avian Influenza is on the rise again. Can't they just learn about chickens on their EduTablets?

...is what I imagine I'd hear at the Parent/Teacher conferences leading up to the average public school's field trip to a local farm.

[hosh]

That kind of fear is not what I want to impart my children. Life becomes so small and dark when living life like that. But I get that I’m not the average parent. We already have chickens in the backyard.

Hen pecking don’t really hurt. They are more likely to run away from you. If you don’t pet them on their head, they won’t take it as establishing pecking order. Their claws only come out when they are raising chicks — as any mother caring for her young will do.

It’s the roosters you have to watch for, and you don’t need them in a flock. Dealing with roosters is trainable — using a mop is unreasonably effective with communicating with roosters because they think it is a giant rooster.

Disease is something you take care of by keeping the coop clean, and letting the chickens forage — pasture raising them.

But for my children, I think it is very important for them to know where food really comes from, and it’s not the grocery store.

[mnky9800n]

We here at EduTablets Technologies haves accounted for these issues through our new VR enhanced farm edusperiences. Children can hold a chicken in their arms without risk of disease or injury through our novel child sized full body immersion suits. Through eye tracking, heart rate monitors, and continuous EEG scans, we can constantly update our individualized AI models that construct unique chicken experiences for each child while maximizing their learning potential.

[colordrops]

Amazing unappreciated comment

[CatWChainsaw]

Well on a serious note, there was a story that made the rounds recently about a study that showed children in families with pets had reduced allergies/sensitivities to allergens.

[markdown]

> it probably wasn't, like, above-board to have kids working with live animals in school.

These days there are American children as young as 13 washing down slaughterhouses on school nights and sleepwalking to school. In a nation where child labor of this kind is completely legal, I think it’s fair to say that a few chickens at school is just fine.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/feds-find-100-children-...