CHICKEN COOP BY LUCY LEWINGTON, ZAC STREATFIELD & KARLIE BOYTON

OUR IDEAS Enviro Champs Ideas Saving Energy at school Chicken Coop Targets on bins Sell eggs back to the community to raise funds for further projects.

AT FIRST….. The week after we first met for Enviro Champs, we decided to run with the idea to save energy at our school. Every recess and lunch we would go to each class room in our school and list if any lights, computers or power points had been left on. We then told everyone in the school what we had been doing and made it a challenge to see which class could be most energy sufficient.

BUT….. After a few weeks we became bored with this idea and decided to change our project to something different.

CHICKEN COOP After talking with Miss Fuller, we decided we would like to build a chicken coop as it would be a good addition to our school. We planned to use the eggs, along with vegetable grown in the already existing vegetable garden, for school cooking. We would also sell the eggs to the community to raise money for further environmental projects.

WHAT WE DID! Step 1: As a group we research recycled chicken coops and found one made from an old swing set. We then brainstormed the materials we would need and put a notice in the school news letter asking for donations.

DONATIONS The Lewington family donated an old swing set for our project. Luke Hughes donated some metal poles and corrugated iron.

WHAT WE DID! Step 2: We used a tape measure to measure each part of the swing set. Luke didn’t trust us so he measured it again. Our measurements were right!

WHAT WE DID! Step 3: We used paper, cardboard, paddle pop sticks and tulle to create models of the chicken coop.

WHAT WE DID! Step 4: On Saturday 17 th October, Miss Fuller, her partner Luke, Lucy, Mr Lewington, Zac and Mr Streatfield met at school to build the coop.

WHAT WE DID! Step 5: We called South West Stockfeed and some local farms to inquire about chickens. We decided we will get some older chickens that are already laying so that we have eggs straight away.

CHALLENGES FACED! We had to wait for donations. Accessing Funds for other materials. We had to wait for assistance to build the coop because we can’t use power tools. Availability of chickens.

PROJECT PROGRESS SO FAR…

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO NEXT? Write a letter to the Steel Centre and ask for donations or discount on chicken mesh. Have another working bee and finish attaching the mesh, putting guards on the tin, creating a door, making nest boxes and attaching the wheels. Purchase chickens from South West Stockfeed.

FUTURE PLANS FOR OUR CHICKEN COOP We plan to use some of the eggs in our school canteen. We also plan to sells some of the eggs back to the local community to raise money for further environmental projects. We would like to use some of the money raised to buy new school bins. We will paint targets on the bins to encourage kids to use them. Different coloured bins would be used for different types of rubbish e.g. garbage, recycle, food scraps