Roosters
Roosters
Parents with school-aged children may have encountered hatching projects at their child's kindergarten or day care centre. Sadly the vast majority remain unaware of the consequences of these programs. HOW DO SCHOOL HATCHING PROJECTS WORK? Businesses deliver incubators and fertilised eggs to a day care centre, kindergarten (even some nursing homes and aged care facilities) to create an educational experience for those who may not be aware where chickens and eggs come from. The purpose is to teach children about the wonders of life and the life cycle but sadly there's very little that's wondrous about the process. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CHICKS ONCE THEY'VE HATCHED? Children watch the chicks develop until they are too old to remain at the day care centre. Some chicks are rehomed with families and go on to become much-loved family pets. But there's an important part of the equation that many people forget...
We get numerous requests to rehome farm animals at FAR but the requests to rehome roosters outnumbers all others. The businesses who provide the hatching service offer to rehome the chicks. But where do they rehome all those roosters when they're not allowed in suburbia? We'll let you work that one out. SO WHY DO THESE PROGRAMS EXIST? We've asked the same question. Programs designed to teach children about the life cycle don't make much sense when the chick's mother (an integral component of the chick's life cycle) is missing from the equation. They make even less sense when the chick is killed - either gassed or ground up alive - as soon as the hatching project has ended and the chick had the misfortune of being born a male. In fact, it's probably the least representative version of a 'life cycle' imaginable. WHAT'S LIFE LIKE FOR A ROOSTER WHO LIVES AT FAR? It's pretty awesome! The roosters who've managed to escape suburbia with their lives intact truly do have it made. Each rooster has his groupies - that is a group of hens who follow him everywhere. His job is to protect his girls and keep them in the lifestyle they've grown accustomed to by finding them tasty morsels to snack on. In return they remain his adoring fans until the end of time. It's a beautiful part of being a rooster and one that we want every rooster to experience. It's why we seek your support. If your child's day care centre or kindergarten does have a hatching project then don't hesitate to educate them about what really happens. There are plenty of other ways we can educate children about the cycle of life that don't involve the suffering of innocent farm animals.
How you can contribute
Have a party and crank up the music in honour of all the roosters that have had their lives end abruptly, just because they had the misfortune to be born male and loud. Charge an entry fee (it works for the hippest nightclubs so why not) and donate the proceeds to FAR. Actually, maybe crank the music up just a little bit. Unless you have terrible neighbours, in which case go all out and tell them they pay a ransom to have the music turned down. Then donate the ransom money to FAR, as well as the ransom fee. Coco (the adorable guy on the right) would be proud.
