What Poultry Can Teach Children

As poultry owners, we may view our poultry as pets or farm animals. We may have them for companionship, eggs, meat, or a combination of those reasons. No matter the reason, we can all agree that these birds require us to care for them. They need food, water, a safe place to spend the night away from predators, and protection from harsh weather. 

Knowing that poultry require care, they can be used to help teach children some life lessons:  

• How to be a caregiver 
• Empathy
• Responsibility
• Patience
• Work Ethic
• Life cycle 
• Managing Expectations and Disappointments

Taking care of poultry will allow children the opportunity to be caregivers. They can participate in: 

• Daily feeding and watering
• Cleaning
• Opening and closing the coop
• Egg collecting

Each of these tasks can help a child to learn responsibility and feel a sense of pride in a job well done. Children can be given an allowance for jobs so they can learn to save their money and spend wisely. This helps teach delayed gratification too. Sometimes the lesson is simply: things need to be done. We just have to do them. Either way, I would make the time fun by encouraging the children to enjoy their time outside with the animals, even if the job isn’t done the way you would. Maybe all your child can do is use a small scoop to put some feed in a feeder or carry a small bottle of water to add to your big bucket, but even on a small scale, lessons are still being taught and learned.

If you want your children to learn some basic business skills and maybe patience, you can allow them to sell eggs. They can learn about the cost of sustaining the flock and how much patience is required as one waits for chicks to reach the age of egg production. 

When we raise young animals, we know that there are times when one seems almost invincible and lives a long, healthy life. Other times, we face loss. Raising poultry can help teach children empathy as they learn about life and death. The passing of a chick, poult, or keet is sad and may bring some tears, but it can help children learn about loss and how to cope with it. Loss provides an opportunity to learn empathy as they may see you or a sibling struggle with it.

On a happier note, hatching can teach about new life. Children can celebrate it and watch the development from an egg to a hatchling and beyond! Waiting for an egg to hatch is another opportunity to learn patience. As you watch a chick try to come out of an egg, there are times it seems like an eternity, but when it does, it is a beautiful sight. Children can learn patience as they wait hopefully. If there is an egg that doesn’t hatch, they may learn about disappointment, too. That’s ok. We know every day has wins and losses. We need to learn how to handle both.

There are other times we may face disappointment or need to learn to manage our expectations. When things don’t hatch as hoped for or planned, we can learn that we need to roll with the punches, choose flexibility and move on to plan B or accept that this time we aren’t going to get exactly what we wanted or planned for.

I hope this helps your family on your poultry-keeping journey.