Free for educational use
Rare Chicken Rescue
Year of production - 2008
Duration - 2min 4sec
Tags - health, identity, self concept, society, see all tags
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How to Download the Video Clip
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Premium MP4 rarechicken_pr.mp4 (15.3MB).
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This video clip is an excerpt from the documentary film Rare Chicken Rescue, produced in 2008.
A Film Australia National Interest Program in association with Freshwater Productions. Produced in association with the Pacific Film and Television Commission and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Please consult the National Statement of Learning for Health & Physical Education.
Queensland rare chicken breeder, Mark Tully, battled reactive depression and anxiety for a long time. He embarked on a mission to protect the endangered chickens to which he owed his life and began an epic ‘chicken chase’ fueled by his determination to find ‘lost’ breeds of poultry before they’re gone forever.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, over 1000 livestock breeds face extinction. In Australia, chicken species such as the Sumatran, the Phoenix, the Transylvanian Naked Neck, the Spanish, the Azeel and even the humble Leghorn are just some of the breeds under threat.
One of Australia’s many ‘poultry fanciers’, Tully set out on a ‘chicken chase’ that covered 10,000 kilometres and spanned five Australian states as he tracked down rare heritage breeds and met others who shared his passion.
The journey took Mark south from his rare poultry stud in Queensland through New South Wales, Victoria, South Australian and across Bass Strait to Tasmania, to the annual show of the Devonport Poultry Club.
While Mark spent his days rescuing poultry, he revealed that the unconditional love of his large collection of turkeys, chooks and other birds – and the serenity he finds in their company – helped save his own life after a long battle with depression.
- Mental health is the way a person thinks and feels about themselves and their world. Explain why you think mental health is an important part of our overall health and wellbeing.
- Explain why the chickens are important for Mark’s mental health, and how the chickens ‘saved’ Mark?
- Mark and the chickens have a reciprocal relationship. Create a flow chart or another diagram to help explain how the chickens help Mark and how Mark helps the chickens.
- Undertake a Think, Ink, Pair, Share. Think about how you look after your mental health. Write down your thoughts and then discuss with a classmate. Share your thoughts with the class. Reflect on the discussion and create a concept map to illustrate the various ways to look after mental health.
- In the clip, Mark makes the statement that the chickens are being discarded not because of what they are, but rather for what they are not. In your own words, what do you think this mean? Discuss your thoughts with a classmate and share your discussion with the class. How would this impact on mental health?
- Create a table with the following headings:
• pluses
• minuses, and
• interesting points
After watching the clip, write down three pluses, three minuses and three interesting points.