A group of students from North Hall Middle School moved a flock of six-week-old chickens this afternoon to their new home at the Hall County School District's agribusiness education center.
The chickens are a part of the center's poultry operation. They were delivered to the center last month as one-day-old chicks and stayed in a classroom at the middle school until they were old enough to survive on their own.
Now a total of 49 chickens will reside inside two coops located at the center. Morgan Conner, agriculture education teacher and Future Farmers of America advisor, said the plan is for a group of student workers to care for the chickens on a daily basis.
Conner said she also plans to bring one of her six agriculture classes out to the center once a week to check on the chickens.
"Just to make sure the chickens are around people and the kids see the poultry and get to know what is going on in the poultry industry...like the day to day operations of a chicken farm," said Conner.
The poultry operation is the latest in many plans for the center. Cattle that will be used for showing are currently at the property, as well as honeybee hives.
Conner said the chickens will teach students where their food really comes from, as well as caring for a living animal.
"The chickens are going to benefit the students by showing them [they're] egg really doesn't come out of that carton at the grocery store, there's a chicken that produces that egg and there's a farmer that's got to be there to make sure the chickens are taken care of," she said.
The chickens will be kept inside their coops until they get a little older, then they will be released to walk freely inside the enclosed area where the coops are.
