School Pets
At Bedfield we have chickens and a dog on site to help teach our pupils social skills and responsibilities. Also to learn about positive and negative reinforcement, responsibility, and boundaries. Pupils can use our chickens or dog to help communicate and teach kindness.
Meet the Birds
We introduced some hens to school in April 2023. We started off with 3 - one day old chicks that were raised in school before being transferred to their outdoor enclosure. Once these chicks had grown one became aggressive towards the other two, he turned out to be a cockerel so we rehomed him.
During August 2023 we purchased some 8 week old black chickens. We mixed these in with the two remaining white hens and they live happily together. One of the black hens turned out to be a cockerel and whilst he was calm to begin with as he matured he became aggressive. We returned him to the breeder and replaced with a clam, mature cockerel that goes by the name of Foghorn.
The children care for the birds daily ensuring they have fresh water and food. In November 2023 the hens started laying and we now have on average 4 eggs per day and the children arrange regular egg sales to raise money to cover the cost of food and bedding.
We are very grateful to Chicken Guard, Nestera and Mrs Whayman who donated the coop, enclosure and automatic opener.
We now have 3 black hens ( Henrietta, Crystal & Bluebell) , 2 white hens (Cheesy & Puff) and 1 cockerel (Foghorn).
Chickens
Meet Cleo
Cleo is a Miniature Dachshund born on 5th February 2024. She lives with Mrs Holland and her family. She attends school most days and stays in Mrs Hollands office. Cleo likes to meet the children at the gate in the mornings and welcome them into school. She can also sometimes be seen on the school field during breaktimes.
