Stop Chick Hatching Programs - Sign the petition!

Thanks for this. It's really disgusting and there are ways to learn without causing harm to the child or the chick! Signed and shared.

Awesome, thanks KirstyGirl!

All done

Thanks for bringing this to our attention! Signed.

In many ways I really disagree with this. Because of all you people who are signing petitions such as these, children are continuously gaining none or little experience with animals, in the long run causing them to dislike them or not understand how to care for them. When I was a student this was a real highlight of my younger years of schooling and all students involved treated the animals with great care. I agree that perhaps incubation is not the best method to raise the chicks, perhaps a silky hen, but I really believe that many people go too far and ruin everyone else’s fun and education.

Glenn just because something MAY be slightly educational to a young child does not in any way mean that it's therefore an acceptable thing to do.

Ok I will make some rebuttal on the points made:
1. Where's mum?

A hatching box is an extremely poor replacement for the mother hen. According to the RSPCA, it is not uncommon for chicks in hatching boxes to die or be born deformed due to inadequate care and incubator malfunctions.

-Like I said get a Silky hen, they are great parents to chicks and create a much better learning experience.

2. What about the roosters?:

Approximately 50% of the adopted chicks will grow up to be roosters, which are illegal to keep in most suburban areas. Of the thousands of roosters hatched, an extremely small percentage find long term homes. Most are killed as waste products of chick hatching programs.

- Many of the educational facilities involved in these programs get their eggs and incubators from farmers that are already planning to hatch the chickens. Once they are finished with the chicks they usually return to the farm, no undue harm is done to them.

3. Teaching poor lessons:

Hatching programs teach children that chicks are disposable objects, rather than living creatures that deserve our respect and require a lifetime of care and commitment.

-How does this teach children that chicks are disposable objects????? If you attend any educational facility that has this program you will see that the kids really care for them and love them! The teachers continuously instruct them to be careful and gentle with them and explain to students that they are living creatures and are very fragile! Children experience how special they are by watching them hatch from the egg and grow.  

4. What happens after the program finishes?:
Like I said in point 4.

Signed, I remember when we had a chick hatching program at school. Someone kept tampering with the incubater, so the chicks never hatched. Probably a good thing...

Animals aren't for us to play around with. I find chick hatching programs very disturbing.

Glenn1,

1. There are no silky hens in childcare centres to care for the chicks.

2. Farms will not accept chicks back due to quarantine reasons.

3. The programs teaches children that we can hatch and use animals for our enjoyment, rather than teaching them that animals should be respected as living beings in their own right.