WHY DO CHICKENS NEED SANCTUARY?
Chickens used in the egg industry have been bred to lay 250-300 eggs a year so that companies can sell more eggs. Laying this many eggs is hard on a hen; they can develop a lot of health problems from laying so many eggs. Many of these hens are also kept in small cages or dirty sheds with no windows, instead of outside on the grass in the sun.
People also breed chickens for their meat. Chickens who are used for meat have been bred to grow much bigger than they normally would – even as much as four times their natural size! Being this big is difficult for them. Their legs can hurt and they can have a hard time walking or even just standing up. Imagine if you were so big that you couldn't stand up. How would that make you feel?
Why would we care about how healthy chickens are or how they feel? Because, like us, they feel pain and fear and loneliness. And, like us, they want to live happy lives and be free from suffering. So, if we care about each other for these reasons, why not care about the chickens, too?
ACTIVITIES
- Learn how chickens grow inside eggs with these print and match cards.
- Practice your vocabulary with a chicken-themed word search.
- Get moving with Chicken Dance Musical Chairs.
- Make some music with this DIY chicken cuica drum.
- Show off your chicken knowledge with this lifecycle of a chicken craft project.
- Enjoy some animal-friendly Easter fun by painting wooden or ceramic eggs.
- Let a chicken keep their feathers by making these painted paper feather decorations.
- Make a chicken-themed card for your Valentine.
- Help Brewster find his flock in this digital jigsaw puzzle.
- Show how well you understand chicken lives with this fill-in-the blank worksheet.