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feathersandfibre

Joined: 25 Dec 2013
Posts: 57

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 4:12 pm Post subject: Working with schools

So we are looking at developing a business that will enable us to live 'the good life' instead of what we are doing now. We will be upsizing when we find the right property so we will be increasing our mortgage and will need to make a viable business. I am currently a primary school teacher so I am looking at how I can utilise this. As I have experience with poultry a chick hatching scheme and support package for schools wanting to keep hatched chicks or buy chickens in is an obvious enterprise along with selling eggs and pol hens more generally. I am in the process of costing some of this out.

I was just wondering whether anyone was doing a similar thing in a different area or whether anyone was running any other successful schemes with schools. I have a few other ideas whizzing around my head but am interested to find out what is out there.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 5:43 pm Post subject:

I have mentioned this before but in the nursing home I worked in there was a company who would drop off a 12 egg incubator full of eggs thst were a few days from hatching and leave it set up next to a plastic crate turned into a little pen with a lightbulb, drinker and chick crumb, the eggs would hatch and the chicks stayed in the nursing home for a couple of weeks and were then collected and they charged £250 for this, the home kept no chicks, there was no involvement from the staff unless there was a phone question....
might be worth a look

feathersandfibre

Joined: 25 Dec 2013
Posts: 57

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 6:00 pm Post subject:
Yes, thanks. That's the sort of thing I have in mind, but from a school point of view I can also produce and provide a range of teaching resources at a primary level and potentially deliver a session in school. £200-£250 seems to be the going rate from what I can tell and I can only find one place that does this anywhere locally.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 6:08 pm Post subject:
If you can find a school with £250 in the budget for non national curriculum stuff good luck to you. It might be worth asking the PTA, especially in middle class suburban areas, and rural ones.

feathersandfibre

Joined: 25 Dec 2013
Posts: 57

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 6:24 pm Post subject:

In my current school we fund things like this partly through ptfa and partly through voluntary contributions direct from parents so for £250 in our small rural school we would be looking at £1 donation from parents and £100 from ptfa for example. Plus it does have many curriculum links and resources would be provided to support teachers with this. Finally there seems to be several businesses running schemes at this sort of cost.

In reality it would be a small extra income to supplement eating/hatching egg and pol hen sales so I wouldn't be looking at needing hundreds of schools signing up.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 6:55 pm Post subject:
The more the merrier tho. And saner. The first one you do will cost you hundreds. The next one only the additional time.

feathersandfibre

Joined: 25 Dec 2013
Posts: 57

Posted: Sun Apr 03, 16 8:01 pm Post subject:
Yes, that's very true.

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 16 9:12 am Post subject:

Things in general are hard right now and although I'm not usually a pessimist, I don't see things getting better anytime soon. Too many people pursuing an ever reducing piece of the same cake.It's still very much a time of austerity, with departments in the public sector still having to make savings.
I never thought that I'd see the day when public libraries were seen as being expendable, so as someone else has already said, trying to convince schools and other institutions to spend money on what maybe seen as non essential items, is going to be extremely difficult.
You've obviously already thought about this a great deal and I don't know you or your circumstances but I wouldn't be looking to give up my day job anytime soon.

SandraR

Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 2346
Location: Devon

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 16 12:42 pm Post subject:
Sarah and Claire (both on Facebook and Twitter) run incubator hire schemes for schools etc. https://www.hensforhire.co.uk/ https://www.sussexgardenpoultry.co.uk/

Jam Lady

Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2570
Location: New Jersey, USA

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 16 6:51 pm Post subject:
Or, there's rent a hen. I think it is a franchise over here, rather wide spread near assorted cities. https://rent-a-chicken.net/rent-a-chicken-urban-farming/ Late in spring the company provides coop, feed, feeder, waterer, and a couple of laying hens, then picks them up early in fall.

feathersandfibre

Joined: 25 Dec 2013
Posts: 57

Posted: Mon Apr 04, 16 8:56 pm Post subject:
Thanks, more food for thought there. The Sussex garden poultry is along the lines I was thinking with the extra school focused things. I'm not sure about the potential disease control risks with boarding or renting hens. There things I have thought about too though.

gregotyn

Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 16 2:15 pm Post subject:

On a regular basis you can run courses in things you are good at ie you don't have to learn before you start! With your experience child minding comes to mind, but I would be inclined to go and see what others are doing by visiting attractions and seeing what catches most of the people there. Seeing how others do it, and look for improvements. Seaside areas perhaps? Remember that it costs less if they come to you!

To some degree Bodger is right about times being hard, I would be keeping the day job going as long as I could, even if it involves a longer commute, and saving like mad, especially if you find the place you want. Times are not easy, so if you can make it now you will do well when things pick up. They threatened to close libraries in Powys, but instead the libraries themselves took a 20% cut in hours and a few staff went too. This explains why I no longer post on Mondays!

There is little or no doubt that working for yourself is a wonderful experience, you will be penniless, but happy they say. My friends who bought a holding say they now argue more, have no money to speak of, but are so much happier growing and eating their own produce.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 16 12:49 am Post subject:

My lad's school recently did something this. But it had to be done through the generosity of middle class parents lending incubators and fertile eggs as there wasn't a penny to be spent on the project. Which is a pity as the educational value of an incubator full of chicks far exceeds any number of pictures of chicks downloaded from the internet but it does illustrate that it's not something I would rely on as even an occasional source of income.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 16 5:41 am Post subject:
I must admit now I work in a nursery I'm going to be buying a couple of incubators and making my own box, I have found homes for the chicks, hens and cocks alike so just need to get a couple lf small incubators..

Bodger

Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 13524

Posted: Thu Apr 07, 16 10:53 am Post subject:

A long, long time ago, when I was barely out of shorts I did my teaching practice in Bolton and I did actually take an incubator into school for my class. The kids thought it was wonderful and so did I. I wasn't over enamoured with the teaching practice but thoroughly enjoyed hatching the eggs too. I was every bit as excited as the kids.

I also arranged a farm visit for them too. I well remember the day that I took a full coach load of kids to the large farm, on which, my dear old mum had been evacuated on during the war.
Hopefully, there are a load of fifty something olds somewhere, that have fond memories of when Mr Bodger came to do his teaching practice with them.

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