Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion The great chicken project

I've been known on more than one occassion for my "creative bent" when it comes to lessons for my children, but this one has to top the list.

DD14 is bound and determined that when she turns 16 she will have money to buy a car. To that end, she comes up with all sorts of ideas for raising money, some work, some don't.

This year she is going to grow pumpkins for halloween. In an effort to teach her something, I told her she has to write a business plan for me and track her costs etc. She agreed and has been happily plowing up the field for the last week. She won't actually plant until June, but she has fencing to put up etc.

DS6 who has been trying for two years to convince me that he NEEDS (feel his sincerity) a laptop thinks that it is completely unfair that DD has an opportunity to raise money and he doesn't. We've been scratching our head for days trying to come up with a project that DS can reasonably do, by himself to raise money. Hence the "Great Chicken Project".

He is going to use his own money to buy 100 day old baby chicks, laying hens. He's going to raise them to 4-5 months. When they start laying, he's going to sell them. I told him if he was serious, that he needed to write a business plan just like his sister. He's going to track his expenses and calculate his cost of goods. I told him that if at any time he bails on the project, I would take over and he won't make any money. He agreed.

Last night, he spent two hours on the computer determining which hens were the best to buy. He put together a binder for his project with an envelope attached inside for his feed receipts. Just like everything else he does, there is no halfway. When he gets home from school this afternoon, we are going to set the lights in the barn and make sure the fencing is secure. Monday, we will order his peeps.

There isn't any doubt in my mind that he can do this, taking care of baby chicks is fairly simple. I'm very curious to see what happens when the newness wears off. Four months is a very long time to a little boy. I hope it will be a great lesson in following through and commitment, and working hard to get what you want. If not, it'll be me on here everyday complaining about taking care of chickens!

Wow, you're amazing. Not only do you have 6 children, but you're prepared, if necessary, to take on the care of 100 chickens! I'm impressed.

Sounds like an adventure. Barbara Kingsolver wrote about her daughter raising chickens in Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. I think it's wonderful you're supporting these opportunities. Looking forward to hearing updates.

Here's the first update...

Our baby chicks have arrived, all 106 of them. We ordered 100 but the hatchery sent extras apparently to cover mortality during shipping. We had one die, but one week in the rest seem to be fine. DS6 was a little put out that he had to recalculate everything based on the additional chicks until he realized that his profit had increased.

He learned about writing off a loss when one chick died, made sure that the feed man gave him a receipt for the chick food and basically is just driving us all crazy! He checks on them constantly and drags everyone with him to the barn. He even demands that we check the lights (for heat) before he goes to bed at night. So far, he shows no sign of getting bored with the project.

Aww, I'm jealous! I grew up with chickens--quite literally, as I was out in the chicken pen every day after school, teaching the chickens everything I learned that day! I wish we had space to have chickens. Have a great time!

What a great experience! We say every year that we are going to get chickens, but each Spring we're unprepared to get them. Sigh...

enjoy!

You can make a lot of money doing ag stuff on a small scale. I know a kid who put himself through law school picking up hay. Another is raising 1000 chickens a week to sell to people who come pick them up. He has quite a set up for raising, procssing, and selling them. Look up Joel Salatin for the basis.

What a great project Shari! Please keep us all updated

Shari, what amazing projects for your kids! I hope they appreciate what a wonderfully supportive mother they have! Good luck - I can't wait to hear more about it.

Wow! That's great. My kids would love to do something like that. Since we live in the city, I don't think we could do it! People in our neighborhood can get permits to keep a few laying hens though. I'm still wondering if I can talk DH into that!

Let us know how it goes!