Hens set to flock to school in Casselman

The next classroom built at a public school in Casselman will be three metres square, unheated, and full of hens.

The hen coop will be built in the spring at l’Académie de la Seigneurie, which goes from kindergarten to Grade 12.

“Here’s why. At school, we don’t want to have the children learn only from computers,” said Casselman’s mayor, Conrad Lamadeleine. “We would like them to have some knowledge of farming.

“So having hens’ nests at school will teach them: What is agriculture? What are hens? Why eggs? How do you raise them and what do you do with them?

“This experience is becoming more and more popular in Quebec and it’s just starting out in Ontario. It’s life experience we can give the children.”

Casselman, about 60 kilometres east of Ottawa, is surrounded by farm country, and Lamadeleine suspects that at least half the students live outside the town. This is an area where, even in the villages, it is increasingly common for families to keep a couple of hens, he said.

The mayor is involved with the school project because the people behind the hen idea thought they would have to get zoning permission. It turns out they don’t.

“I met the minister of agriculture, Jeff (Leal), and he said the municipality has the power to run a pilot project without going through a rezoning process,” the mayor said.

“The school can stop it at any time, and if the municipality doesn’t think it is working well or finds that it causes problems, we can stop it too.”

The little coop will have nests inside and an enclosure outside where the hens can walk around.

It will be unheated. In the winter, and during summer holidays, the 10 hens will go on vacation at a local farm.

Officials at the school weren’t available Thursday.