Diary of a Poultry Farmer: Farm fun for children this holiday

The long holiday is here and like many parents, my dilemma is how to keep the children busy and ensure they don’t get into trouble as they maintain their intellect.

My four-year-old daughter, Amani, broached this subject the other day.

“Dad, which day is tomorrow?” she asked.

“Monday,” I replied curtly, before quipping, “Why do you ask?”

“Are we going to school tomorrow?” she mumbled.

“Of course not. Schools are closed for the next two months,” I muttered.

“Okay, can we then go to the farm and have some fun?” she pleaded, and started wailing when I mentioned I had to go to work.

Although farming is a herculean job, the farm is a good place for children to have fun, learn, work and play. There, children learn about plants, animals and most importantly, life skills.

To take you down the memory lane, growing up in the rural hills of Samia in Busia, farm activities were not a luxury, but a necessity for survival.

In the morning, it was mandatory to go to the farm and help our parents or other members of the extended family. The fun, however, didn’t begin until in the afternoon when we took the cows out for grazing and drinking at the river.

We could then swim, and there was also fishing in the muddy ponds and stream.

So, as a parent, where do you start? An easy place is to teach children where food comes from. This will help them to distinguish between ‘junk’ food — the type you get every day in urban centres including chips, cake, sweets, juice, sodas and white bread, from fresh healthy foods like fruits and vegetables.

It’s surprising that many children born and bred in the city have no idea where food comes from. Some believe it comes from the supermarket.

Now, forget about investing in acres of land or even owning a garden. My wife, Ciru, introduced the children to farming using a plastic tin filled with soil and some manure as a garden perched on my balcony.

CHILDREN LEARN BEST WHEN THEY SEE...

We were surprised how excited they were when, after waiting for a couple of days, they saw a bean stalk emerging from the soil.

Of course they had to water it daily and see it grow later to produce beans. Lesson one; creating life and having stewardship over life is the best thing.

I taught them basic skills like reading, mathematics and stewardship using livestock. Here is what I did.

I picked on a few favourite children’s books like the Chicken Licken, the Sly Fox and Red Hen (if they are slightly advanced, try George Orwell’s Animal Farm).

Remember, children learn best when they see, feel, touch and recite.

To introduce them to the poultry family, I used Chicken Licken, a level two read-it-yourself Ladybird series.

The story starts when a nut falls on Chicken Licken’s (the ‘chick’) head. She concludes that the sky must be falling down and decides to walk to the castle and tell the king about it.

On the way, she meets a hen (Henny Penny), a cock (Cocky Locky), a duck (Ducky Lucky), a drake (Drakey Lakey), and a goose (Goosey Loosey).

They don’t get to their destination because on the way, they are waylaid by the fox (Foxy Loxy). Now, I haven’t tried this, but you can get them to act this out with friends. Lesson two; never talk to strangers.

In Sly Fox and the Red Hen, fox finally meets his match in Red Hen who tricks him by putting stones in the black bag to disguise fox’s catch from a hunting spree.

Fox only realises he didn’t catch Red Hen when he splashes the stones into a pot of boiling water. Lesson three; today you lose tomorrow you win, never give up.

PLAYGROUND WITHIN THE COOP

I have also made them paint their favourite birds and to write short sentences like, “A hen is mother chicken. It lays eggs. I get eggs and meat from the hen.”

Another favourite line I like is, “Goosey Goosey Gander. Where shall I wonder? I am a goose, my neck is longer than a duck’s. I am also bigger than a duck. My baby is called a gosling.”

If you take the children on the poultry farm, for instance, don’t let them into the coop to do tasks like collecting eggs or feeding because of the risk of injury (I allow feeding only when the chicks are less than two weeks).

The reason is that it is very easy for children to sustain serious injuries. Chickens can be very aggressive. I have had cases where they jumped from a perch right into my face.

Another risk is they can poke into one’s eyes. I recommend children feeding birds if they are raised in cages or if they are in free-range, meaning, you broadcast the maize or millet from a distance.

Now, to make the farm children friendly, I have a children’s play house raised half a metre above the ground and sandwiched between the house for the guinea fowl and the turkeys.

That way, the children get to play as they watch the birds.

I also have a playground right in the middle of the coop, which comprises a landscaped area covered with grass, where the children play as they also see the chickens.

Obwogo is a medical doctor and a senior quality improvement adviser in health policy and systems strengthening at an international NGO.

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EARLY LESSONS

What parents are doing

At Victoria Eco Farm located in Dunga, Kisumu County run by Nicholas Omondi, his two daughters are actively involved in day-to-day activities.

The eldest, Nikita Achieng (8) (above) helps in feeding the mature birds and chicks of the Kienyeji variety that he hatches.

She also takes care of their ornamental birds. “I help my father and workers feed and give water to the birds early in the morning.

I have also learnt how to vaccine the chicks against Newcastle Disease and Gumboro,” says Achieng, who is going to Class Four next year at Marigold Academy in Kisumu.

She started having interest in poultry farming when she was six. His father, Omondi, says she has been doing vaccination of the day-old chicks for two-and-half years.

Initially, Nikita would watch me do it. Then she learnt the work and now does it on her own although I supervise her,” says the father of two, nothing this holiday, her children are busy on the farm.

Elizabeth Ojina

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Sharon Chelagat, the mother of Elvin Kipchumba, a pupil at Kindercare Academy, grows sukuma wiki, maize and beans in Kipkorgot, Uasin-Gishu County.

Her son takes part in light duties on the farm, which include uprooting weeds. The six-year-old (above, left) says he has interest in farming and helps his mother on the farm because they learn about it in schools.

Stanley Kimuge

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Bernard Ndung’u (below right), teaches Allan Gatheru and John Njoroge (below middle and left) how to weed coriander (dhania) that he grows on his farm in Burnt Forest.

Ndung’u says he is using the long holiday to teach the two how to grow the crop and take care of it from the soil to maturity. The herb which is used as a spice has a huge market across the country.