Hatching chicks and ducks at nurseries/schools.

Yellowrosesmakemehappy · 2023-06-20T19:14:55+00:00

AIBU to really hate this activity and I wish it was banned? Toddlers nursery is doing it currently and my heart sank when I saw it. I just feel it’s so wrong for them to be created for no reason and not even have a mum to keep them safe and cosy and comforted. The reasoning behind it is to teach the kids about wildlife but we can do that for our child without this, I think it’s old fashioned and mean and not very forward thinking. 😭 I’m probs a massive hypocrite as I’m not vegan but this just seems so pointless.

ContinuousProcrastination · 20/06/2023 20:15

Lots of nurseries don't do this any more for these reasons. Ours stopped.

NuffSaidSam · 20/06/2023 20:18

I think if you're not vegan then really don't have a leg to stand on tbh. The ones you eat have had a much worse life than the nursery ones.

Our nursery uses a company that promises they all live/go somewhere nice but I'm not sure how/where because there must be so many of them. The school tries to re-home the chickens themselves and have been successful so far, but again there must come a point where everyone who wants chickens has them.

Onelifeonly · 20/06/2023 20:19

It is rather sad. We had ducklings at my school some years back. The class teacher was desperate to find somewhere for them to go afterwards as she heard they just get killed. She tried to locate a pond they could be taken to but was told it wasn't allowed (by the authorities in the village where the pond was). Cant remember what happened - presumably the company that supplied the eggs collected the ducklings.....

The children were fascinated by them though, it was a memorable experience.......

Horizabel · 20/06/2023 20:21

NuffSaidSam · 20/06/2023 20:18

I think if you're not vegan then really don't have a leg to stand on tbh. The ones you eat have had a much worse life than the nursery ones.

Our nursery uses a company that promises they all live/go somewhere nice but I'm not sure how/where because there must be so many of them. The school tries to re-home the chickens themselves and have been successful so far, but again there must come a point where everyone who wants chickens has them.

This. DS's school did it last year and the year before and the chicks are thriving and living at the house of one of the teachers and one of DS's classmates. I don't think the school would do it without someone in the school community having committed in advance to giving them a home.

HereIAmThereYouAre · 20/06/2023 20:22

Unwanted chicks/ducklings get collected by the company and are usually "dispatched" and even if they are rehomed the males will most likely be unwanted.

www.bhwt.org.uk/fun-learning/chick-hatching-in-schools/#:~:text=Once%20a%20chick%20hatching%20scheme,the%20cockerels%20are%20usually%20unwanted.

MeowOnceForOffended · 20/06/2023 20:23

The chicks fate will be the same as all the other chicks in the egg industry. Males macerated alive. Females kept to produce eggs then broken bodies taken to abattoir.
It's fun on the farm.

Soubriquet · 20/06/2023 20:24

I’m not overly keen on it. Egg hatched babies imprint on the first moving thing they see. It means they lose their surrogate mother when they are moved on. Plus, without a proper hen or duck mum, they don’t learn the skills needed

Hoppinggreen · 20/06/2023 20:24

It’s not even just their eventual fate, they should be hatched by their mum and then stay with her. The whole thing is awful

Hoppinggreen · 20/06/2023 20:25

Soubriquet · 20/06/2023 20:24

I’m not overly keen on it. Egg hatched babies imprint on the first moving thing they see. It means they lose their surrogate mother when they are moved on. Plus, without a proper hen or duck mum, they don’t learn the skills needed

They won’t need skills sadly

Brefugee · 20/06/2023 20:26

NuffSaidSam · 20/06/2023 20:18

I think if you're not vegan then really don't have a leg to stand on tbh. The ones you eat have had a much worse life than the nursery ones.

Our nursery uses a company that promises they all live/go somewhere nice but I'm not sure how/where because there must be so many of them. The school tries to re-home the chickens themselves and have been successful so far, but again there must come a point where everyone who wants chickens has them.

I disagree.

Even if your not vegan it is possible (well, here in Germany anyway) to buy free range eggs from places that do not kill male chicks. I would be horrified if my DCs kindergarten had done something like this.

Evenstar · 20/06/2023 20:26

The biggest problem is roosters, mostly nobody wants them and if you live in town you are often not allowed to keep them under council bylaws because of the noise. I am just about to get chickens, so many people hatch eggs under broody hens and then want someone else to take the roosters.

There is a saying “don’t hatch if you won’t dispatch”, and I have seen poultry breeders say they will not dispose of unwanted roosters as people also buy chicks too young to be sexed.

There are rescues but they are inundated and there are sad stories of young roosters abandoned in fields. I wouldn’t be certain that any returned by nurseries would be kept alive.

MeowOnceForOffended · 20/06/2023 20:28

Hoppinggreen · 20/06/2023 20:25

They won’t need skills sadly

Show quote history

Oh no, the ones from the special magical free range farms where all the hens live a beautifully happy life before being cuddled and kissed to death for a roast dinner.
Those ones. They need skills.

CoconutDrunk · 20/06/2023 20:30

I think it depends on where they go afterwards!

my DCs nursery does this, and it backs on to a farm so the lady that lives there takes them and apparently has done for years … I also know the nursery manager and she has been known to take them home over night because she doesn’t like leaving them 💛

if that were not the case I would definitely be questioning it.

& FWIW our family are mainly plant based/ vegetarian… and although I agree that these chicks have a much better life that the ones you eat, I actually think it’s good that you are questioning it. Everyone who became vegan/vegetarian started somewhere and maybe this is a good place to start thinking about how your lifestyle may impact the wellbeing of other species?

Clymene · 20/06/2023 20:30

NuffSaidSam · 20/06/2023 20:18

I think if you're not vegan then really don't have a leg to stand on tbh. The ones you eat have had a much worse life than the nursery ones.

Our nursery uses a company that promises they all live/go somewhere nice but I'm not sure how/where because there must be so many of them. The school tries to re-home the chickens themselves and have been successful so far, but again there must come a point where everyone who wants chickens has them.

Breeding things to kill them isn't the same as breeding to eat them

Or don't you think there's any difference?

NuffSaidSam · 20/06/2023 20:30

Brefugee · 20/06/2023 20:26

I disagree.

Even if your not vegan it is possible (well, here in Germany anyway) to buy free range eggs from places that do not kill male chicks. I would be horrified if my DCs kindergarten had done something like this.

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And dairy products from free range cows where all the male calves are living their best life too?

GiraffeDoor · 20/06/2023 20:30

It can be done well. We live rurally, mist people have chickens - our chicks were all guaranteed homes before the eggs were even put under the heat lamp.

Original poster

Yellowrosesmakemehappy · 20/06/2023 20:31

I suppose even though I’m not vegan, I think that if the chicks are going to be killed afterwards then it’s hypocritical for the kids to be all gooey eyed and loving about them without the real truth. Seems a bit sick!

And if they’re not going to be killed then what gives us the right to not let them have a mum in the first few weeks of their life? What does that teach children?

I stopped taking toddler to a local farm because it was one of those ones where a huge crowd of noisy screeching kids can handle tiny baby animals and frighten the living daylights out of them.

I’ll be telling my child the truth about our food and then it’s his choice what to eat and when.

OP posts:

misspositivepants · 20/06/2023 20:31

My littles ones nursery is on a farm, so when they got some they kept them still there now fully grown.

the nursery owner was quite considered when deciding whether to do it they had ducks so we’re considering the breed the traits.

Clymene · 20/06/2023 20:32

CoconutDrunk · 20/06/2023 20:30

I think it depends on where they go afterwards!

my DCs nursery does this, and it backs on to a farm so the lady that lives there takes them and apparently has done for years … I also know the nursery manager and she has been known to take them home over night because she doesn’t like leaving them 💛

if that were not the case I would definitely be questioning it.

& FWIW our family are mainly plant based/ vegetarian… and although I agree that these chicks have a much better life that the ones you eat, I actually think it’s good that you are questioning it. Everyone who became vegan/vegetarian started somewhere and maybe this is a good place to start thinking about how your lifestyle may impact the wellbeing of other species?

If you believe the nice lady on the farm takes all the male chicks and gives them a happy healthy life, you're very naive

GiraffeDoor · 20/06/2023 20:32

Clymene · 20/06/2023 20:30

Breeding things to kill them isn't the same as breeding to eat them

Or don't you think there's any difference?

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Once the animal is dead, I'm pretty sure it doesn't care whether it gets eaten or not!

TucSandwich · 20/06/2023 20:33

Where I worked, the Deputy Head ended up killing the cockerells as they got too noisy and destructive. I was disgusted

MeowOnceForOffended · 20/06/2023 20:34

I’ll be telling my child the truth about our food and then it’s his choice what to eat and when.

Not being funny, but having presumably fed your child meat for years this isn't a neutral message your sending is it.

Either they'll agree that yes, I like the taste of animal suffering so I will keep that up.
Or they'll resent you for making them complicit in animal cruelty unaware.

The only neutral way is not to eat animals and then let them decide.
Just saying.
Obviously I know you won't do that.

Hoppinggreen · 20/06/2023 20:34

CoconutDrunk · 20/06/2023 20:30

I think it depends on where they go afterwards!

my DCs nursery does this, and it backs on to a farm so the lady that lives there takes them and apparently has done for years … I also know the nursery manager and she has been known to take them home over night because she doesn’t like leaving them 💛

if that were not the case I would definitely be questioning it.

& FWIW our family are mainly plant based/ vegetarian… and although I agree that these chicks have a much better life that the ones you eat, I actually think it’s good that you are questioning it. Everyone who became vegan/vegetarian started somewhere and maybe this is a good place to start thinking about how your lifestyle may impact the wellbeing of other species?

Oh yes, the old “go to live on a farm” story

GiraffeDoor · 20/06/2023 20:36

Yellowrosesmakemehappy · 20/06/2023 20:31

I suppose even though I’m not vegan, I think that if the chicks are going to be killed afterwards then it’s hypocritical for the kids to be all gooey eyed and loving about them without the real truth. Seems a bit sick!

And if they’re not going to be killed then what gives us the right to not let them have a mum in the first few weeks of their life? What does that teach children?

I stopped taking toddler to a local farm because it was one of those ones where a huge crowd of noisy screeching kids can handle tiny baby animals and frighten the living daylights out of them.

I’ll be telling my child the truth about our food and then it’s his choice what to eat and when.

If you don't like baby chicks growing up without their mummy, wait til you hear about human surrogacy......

Clymene · 20/06/2023 20:36

No of course it doesn't @GiraffeDoor. I think breeding an animal just to kill it is pointless. Breeding it to eat it isn't.

Obviously I'm not a vegan.

But I'm not sure what lesson this is teaching children. Chicks are cute! Eggs turn into chicks! Eggs turn into chicks and then we kill them!

Kind of weird