04/21/2020
Hello Willow Glen Neighbors,
Again, thank you for your many inquiries regarding care of the Willow Glen High chicken flocks during the required school closures.
The hens are being cared for by the WGHS Gardens program coordinator and have been receiving daily visits all year (365 days a year), right up to the present day. What has dramatically changed for the girls is the number of daily visitors, many of whom bring human food as treats for the chickens. They are currently receiving amounts of treats (human food) that are making them unhealthy. Visitors and passersby are welcome to say hello, but please refrain from throwing anything into the chickens' runs (yards). They already have access to nutritionally balanced feed that is formulated specifically for adult hens. All of the extra food they have been getting is causing them to gain unhealthy amounts of body mass and could lead to more serious health problems in the future. If you love the WGHS chickens, please don't give them any food!
Visitors may also notice several small plastic dishes containing water in the chicken run. The dishes were not placed there by any authorized caretakers, and the hens are not out of water. What has been happening is that some people passing by who don't know that the hens are still being taken care of fear that the birds have just been abandoned, and these neighbors--bless them--want to help. They then put bowls / cups of water inside the run. The chickens drink all of the water in these tiny bowls, because, hey, it's closer than walking the 20 extra steps to get to the water in the coop, and then other human visitors come by and think / say, "Oh my gosh, the chickens are out of water!" The reality is that each coop has a near-full 2 or 5 gallon bucket suspended inside with chicken ni**le waterers and the buckets are checked daily--and so are their pellet feeders, for that matter--plus, they get small amounts of table scraps from the garden coordinator's house, and all the worms and bugs they can forage out of the wood chip / dirt covering on the ground in their run.
Please know that the WGHS chickens are being looked after, and if you are a concerned neighbor, parent, or student with questions about the chickens, please send a message through the WGHS Chickens page.
Best regards,
The WGHS GOLD program
Willow Glen High School
Gardens &
Outdoor
Learning
Domains
