PDA

View Full Version : Animals and Pets



Pedagog
30-06-2008, 09:11 AM
One of the things I am dreading when I am inspected is how ofsted will react to our pets.

What are they like about pets?

We have a large Dog, Cat and Goldfish in the house, and then goats, ducks and chickens in the garden. Is this likely to be a problem. The garden is separated so children would not be playing where the livestock is kept.

Will this cause problems?

Thanks in advance.

Mrs M
30-06-2008, 09:14 AM
Wow that sounds amazing - wish I could come and play at yours! I would have thought that if the animals are kept separate from the children it won't be a problem. With regards to the dog, I have two and they have a dog pound so don't come into direct contact with the children each day. However, I know plenty of childminders with dogs in their houses. You just need to have a pet/animal policy and risk assess everything. So long as your dog is great with children then there'll be plenty of parents wanting to place their children with you as they may not have dogs at home if the parents are working.

Pedagog
30-06-2008, 09:16 AM
Thanks for the response.

foxy lady
30-06-2008, 09:27 AM
hi
i have got
chickens
2 dogs(one is an alsation)
fish
2 parrots

i have had my inspection and got outstanding so shouldnt be a problem. both our dogs are in the house you just have to show that you are careful with the dogs around children and that the dogs are very friendly with the children. also a others have said an indepth pets policy.

i keep a pot of sterigel on the side in the house and the children use it whanever they have touched any of the pets i also make sure that everyone removes there shoes before coming in to the house incase of chickem pooh, also we have trained our dogs to wee and pooh in on small part of the garden that the dogs do not go on
i think that these are the sort of things that ofsted will be looking for also a risk assesment
you could also ask your parent to put a bit about how well the animals are kept in any of the comments that they write about you and show ofsted them
hope this helps i dont think you should worry about having animals just have it well covered when ofsted come

miffy
30-06-2008, 09:28 AM
I agree with Emma - you need to have a pet/animal policy and risk assessments in place then Ofsted should be fine

Pets may put some parents off but there will be others who will love what the animals bring to their children's lives

Good luck

miffy xx

Pedagog
30-06-2008, 10:09 AM
Thank you, our dog is a German Shepperd cross, and is fairly large, but she loves children.

We already have a strict no shoes in the house rule, and alcohol gel all round the house.

We are Defra registered for the goats and on the poultry register, so have had animal health checks from the local council, and have to keep records for them, do you think that will help?

Annie_T
30-06-2008, 12:45 PM
i have a cat, which was fine, i dunno bout the rest of your pets hun sorry, but if they are fenced off from where children are palying i cant see it being a prob - long they cant get hand thru to animals (animals may bite etc - that how they look at it)

you have a nice nic of animals too which is goood for children to learn et c

sarah707
30-06-2008, 03:18 PM
Yes being defra registered is good.

I would put together a little pack of paperwork for Ofsted to show you've thought about it... like you do for your car.

Put in vets stuff, risk assessments, defra registration and anything else relevant. :D

emmadines
30-06-2008, 03:22 PM
One of the things I am dreading when I am inspected is how ofsted will react to our pets.

What are they like about pets?

We have a large Dog, Cat and Goldfish in the house, and then goats, ducks and chickens in the garden. Is this likely to be a problem. The garden is separated so children would not be playing where the livestock is kept.

Will this cause problems?

Thanks in advance.

they were fine with mine, I have 1 dog, 1 cat, 1 g.pig, 6 hens, 4 ducks.
I just put a bit in my policies about the children will wash their hands after touching the animals etc

Ripeberry
30-06-2008, 04:49 PM
I thought that you did not have to register with DEFRA unless you had more than 50 chickens.
We have 2 cats, a pond with fish and some newts, also 4 chickens in a run so the kids don't have access to them.
In my policies i will be saying that the cats are regularly wormed and de-flead and that the children will wash their hands after handling any animal.
One thing i would like to know, is can i feed the children with eggs from my hens or do i have to buy them in a shop to make sure they have the "lion mark".
My hens eggs are delicious!

emmadines
30-06-2008, 04:57 PM
I thought that you did not have to register with DEFRA unless you had more than 50 chickens.
We have 2 cats, a pond with fish and some newts, also 4 chickens in a run so the kids don't have access to them.
In my policies i will be saying that the cats are regularly wormed and de-flead and that the children will wash their hands after handling any animal.
One thing i would like to know, is can i feed the children with eggs from my hens or do i have to buy them in a shop to make sure they have the "lion mark".
My hens eggs are delicious!

theres no reason not to give them eggs from your hens, I have stated that any item in the menu with eggs in come from our own hens.

im defra registered but thats out of choice, if your flock is under 50 then you dont have too.

Pedagog
01-07-2008, 08:40 AM
I thought that you did not have to register with DEFRA unless you had more than 50 chickens.



That's right for the poultry register it is compulsory if you have over 50 birds, but I registered by choice for several reasons, one the information I get from them, I always receive a text message about any outbreaks of bird related diseases and precautions, and two I suspected my then neighbours might take pleasure in reporting me to defra for having birds, so I thought if I'm registered that the only response they will get back, is "thank you we know she has poultry."

All that said we have been up to having 45 birds (including quail, geese, ducks, chickens and guinea fowl) at one point so we have almost had to register.

We also have a CPH number, because we keep goats, and a flock number

angeldelight
01-07-2008, 08:44 AM
Sounds like you already have everything under control Charlotte

Sounds lovely with all those animals bet the children will love them

You will have to show us some pictures

Angel xx

disney
01-07-2008, 08:51 AM
i think that children can learn alot from you having animals ! th mindees will think they are at the farm every day:laughing: just as long as you make sure they wash their hands after handling any animals as well x

Pedagog
01-07-2008, 11:37 AM
Thanks eveyone.