It you were a bit surprised by the noise of chickens near the Dr Böhmer School these last two years, you are not going crazy.
The school for learners with special needs, have established a hen house with point-of-lay hens in 2021 after it was decided to introduce agriculture to the curriculum.
Chickens are being used to teach learners valuable life skills, with the support of poultry experts at Nutri Feeds, a subsidiary of Country Bird Holdings.
There are few animals as rewarding to keep as the chicken, which requires minimal effort to produce quick rewards in the form of daily fresh eggs.
This was the thinking when the school bought 90 point-of-lay hens – 19-week-old birds that are ready to lay eggs.
Dr Böhmer School has 550 learners between the ages of 12 and 19, many of whom come from disadvantaged rural backgrounds, and with varying degrees of learning disabilities. The school provides a safe learning environment where youngsters are equipped with skills to ensure that they can become reasonably independent, and even enter the labour force where possible. Training is offered in practical subjects such as agricultural studies, food production, hairdressing, maintenance, motor mechanics, welding and woodwork.
According to principal Kallie Viljoen, the egg project was conceived as a way to teach lessons in self-sustainability. “We wanted a project involving live animals, but because we’re in an urban area we were limited in terms of the livestock we could house on the premises. Chickens fit the bill, and we felt that our learners would be able to manage the process, while the daily supply of eggs would be welcome at the hostel, and also provide a learning opportunity in managing a business. One of our staff members has a connection at Nutri Feeds, so we reached out for advice about chickens.”
Nutri Feeds, the animal-feed farm of poultry producers Country Bird Holdings, has a manufacturing plant in Bloemfontein, and agreed to provide feed and poultry expertise to get the ball rolling.
“It was a major project for the whole school. Now the kids who take agriculture are involved in cleaning the house, feeding the birds and collecting the eggs. At first some of the learners were sceptical and did not believe that we’d be getting the hens, and it was so rewarding to see their excitement when the first chickens were delivered. By now they have really taken ownership of the project, and are learning valuable lessons in the process,” says Viljoen.
The house has a capacity for 270 birds in laying cages, and currently there are around 230 hens producing eggs. The eggs are primarily destined for the school’s hostel, and surplus eggs are sold to the public or to staff to help support the school’s finances. “Our production rate is about 80% at present, which is not bad, and we are also using the manure as fertiliser for our organic vegetable garden. We were even able to donate 50 trays of eggs to a local charity last December, when the hostel was closed.”
The eggs and vegetables improve the school’s self-sustainability which is a welcome benefit, given that Dr Böhmer receives no support for its feeding scheme from the Department of Education, and has to rely on donations.
Learning about the poultry industry is an ongoing challenge for them all, says Viljoen, particularly in the light of the current avian flu outbreaks that have caused egg shortages in certain parts of the country. “We are all learning about biosecurity and how to maintain it to keep our chickens safe,” he says.
Providing the young people in his care with hope for the future, and skills to enable them to make a living one day rather than be dependent on hand-outs, is Viljoen’s main objective. The egg project is the immediate tool to help achieve this, and he hopes that they will be able to scale up the project modestly to 500 hens, and double the output of eggs in the next few years. “It is about making a difference in kids’ lives, and by pooling our efforts with companies such as Nutri Feeds, we can change the prospects for their families, and their communities.”
