Raising Chickens in Schools
10 Steps to Start Raising Chickens and Gardening on Your School Campus.
July 2024 | Molly Sutton
10 Steps to Starting a School Garden and Chicken Program:
Step 1: Research
This may seem like an obvious step, but it is very important. Before setting up a chicken coop at school, you must research your zoning/if other schools in your district have chickens, how to raise and care for chickens, what kind of impact the program may have on your school and local community, etc.
Zoning
Raising chickens at your school is not exactly like raising a backyard flock. Typically, schools are governed by the school district, not by the city code, meaning before you start designing your program and building, you will need to obtain permission from your District Superintendent to raise chickens at your school.
Nevertheless, you may still find it helpful to check your city’s municipal code about rules around raising chickens. Assuming your program is successful, students may desire to raise their own backyard flock and will have questions for you. Usually, there is an article in the city code devoted to animals, raising poultry, or some other similar wording.
Email us if you have questions–each city is different and it can be confusing!
Create a Program Proposal
It is important to create a Program Proposal to help inform the design of your program. Think of this step as it as identifying initial needs of your school community and how a Coops & Gardens Program can address them.
Your chances of gaining admin permission may improve because of your report. Be sure to include data from your community (such as poverty and food desert statistics), studies on the impact of raising chickens/gardening in schools, and/or examples of similar, successful programs in your area!
This proposal will be refined later on to help create your Program Plan.
Step 2: Gain Permission
Start by presenting the idea to you school principal. They may direct you to obtain permission to raise chickens at your school from the district and/or state officials as well.
Sharing the impact report you create in Step 1 may help convince higher authorities to approve your request to raise chickens at your school.
Step 3: Create a Committee
Committees are ESSENTIAL to the success of your chicken or garden program at your school. Coops & Gardens Committees:
Identifies Priorities
Shares Workload
Keeps Momentum
Step 4: Develop Goals
Defining clear goals before starting your program will help determine the direction of your Coops & Gardens Program. Undoubtedly, you have a reason for wanting to raise chickens at your school. Start with that!
Step 5: Develop a Program Plan
In Step 1, you created a Project Proposal to help share information about why you are creating this program and to gain permission to raise chickens and/or garden at your school. Now, you will work with your committee created in Step 3 to further develop that proposal. Using your newly established program goals and project proposal, it is time to develop a plan of action.
- What will your chicken setup look like?
- How will you design your garden?
- Will you have a compost bin?
- How do you plan to use the chickens?
- Will you sell eggs or meat?
- Who will take the chickens in the event of a school closure?
Chickens.org offers free resources to help your school develop a Coops & Gardens Program at your school. If you are interested in partnering with us, please message us below!
Step 6: Train Committee Members
Before launching your program, you will want to start training your committee members on basics of raising chickens, gardening, composting, and incorporating these activities into existing curriculum. Training a small group of people to share knowledge with other teachers, volunteers, and students will help distribute the workload during the setup process.
Our website, YouTube and Instagram pages are great resources for basics of chicken raising, but we also offer special, school-specific training videos and workshops for Coops & Gardens Programs.
Note: Steps 6 & 7 can be reversed or done congruently. We believe it is easier to fundraise for a program with basic knowledge of chickens and gardening, which is why we have listed the steps in this order. More training will be needed once your school has chickens.
Step 7: Fundraise
Applying for grants to start your program is highly encouraged, however we have seen that the BEST method for starting a chicken and garden program at your school is fundraising with the students.
Involving students in a fundraising campaign will:
Help students feel connected to and interested in the program.
Give a short term, actionable goal for students to work towards.
Create a bonding experience for those involved, unifying your school community under one mission.
Provide opportunity for parent involvement.
Allow students (and faculty!) to take ownership of the project.
Stakes for success are higher when you work hard to fund the program as a community. Consequently, all involved will be more motivated to see program success!
Chickens.org is here to help you fundraise!
From crowdfunding to in-person events, we want to help you create a successful FUNdraiser.
Fundraising shouldn’t be boring, so we have created a list of ideas to get you started! (VIEW HERE)
Step 8: Build
Many plans are available on the internet and in books for building chicken coops, and there is no perfect set up! There is only what is perfect for you.
We cannot stress this enough…MAKE SURE YOUR CHICKEN AREA IS SET UP ENTIRELY BEFORE GETTING CHICKENS.
We have done it. Many people on the internet have done it. Schools have done it. Learn from the mistakes of your peers and trust us when we say—when we beg—please wait until you have completed the set-up of your chicken coop and run before even hatching eggs or ordering chicks. Construction always takes longer than expected, and you do not want to find your pullets with no place to live come the time they have primary feathers and are ready to be outside (around 5-6 weeks old).
Step 9: Get Chickens
Finally, the step you have been waiting for! As it comes time to get chickens, there are a few things you must consider–the breed of chicken, how to choose a healthy flock, and creating a plan to integrate the flock into their new home.
Make sure to plan ahead before just going to a feed store and getting chickens! Have a brooder (if sourcing chicks) and coop ready, feeders and drinkers, and other chicken basics on hand.
Choosing a Chicken Breed
Learn more about chicken breeds and how to choose the right breed for your farm’s needs!
Tips for Sourcing Chickens
Not all chicken sources are the same! Follow these tips for the best chance at sourcing healthy chickens.
Introducing New Chickens
Discover what to expect from your first day, week, and few months with your new fluffy friends.
Step 10: Incorporate chickens and garden into existing curriculum
The key to incorporating chickens into your school curriculum is teacher participation.
Contrary to popular opinion, curriculum does not have to be re-written to involve chickens and gardening! Each school will find their own ways to involve their Coops & Gardens Program, but some easy ways to get started include:
- Opting to have class outside during nice weather.
- Incorporating seating into your chicken area or garden design will give teachers the option to host class outside, taking advantage of the therapeutic benefits being around chickens and plants offers.
- Use fresh eggs in physics class or other STEM courses.
- Start a cooking class that uses fresh eggs or produce from the garden.
- Allow chickens to participate in pep-rallies!
- Check out Chicken’s Got Talent for ideas about training chickens!
How long does it take to start a chicken program at my school?
Starting a chicken or garden program at your school is not typically a fast process. Even if you have funding available immediately, the process of gaining permission, designing a program, training faculty, building and finally planting or getting chickens typically takes schools 6 months to a year minimum when done well.
Do not let this timeline discourage you from starting!
If you would like to learn more about raising chickens or gardening at your school, please email us: