Alexander High School agricultural education teacher and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor Ryan Bragg continues to expand the ways his students learn about caring for and raising animals.
The school recently expanded its poultry operation and now has more than 40 chickens that Bragg’s agriculture students care for and raise on campus.
Alexander also recently added two Nubian goats that are also housed on campus and help
students learn about livestock.
And Bragg’s students got a special visit last month from AHS alumnus Amy Wisener Timms and her Miniature Highland Cow.
“The agricultural education program and FFA at Alexander are close to my heart,” said Bragg, who is the only agriculture teacher in the county.“I graduated from Alexander in 2015 and was an FFA officer all four years of high school. The amount of opportunities that I received because of my time in the agriculture classroom and in the FFA cannot be expressed enough.”
Bragg said Alexander has approximately 150-200 students in FFA each year. All students in his Forestry and Wildlife Systems and Plant and Floriculture Systems pathway classes are registered as FFA members. Both pathways include Bragg’s Basic Agriculture class.
He said the current poultry operation at AHS is focused on eggs, which are one of Georgia’s top 10 agricultural commodities. AHS students incubate eggs in the classroom and then care for them after they hatch until they are ready to transition to one of the school’s coops.
“The largest part of the poultry operation is ensuring eggs are gathered daily before hens have the chance to sit on them for an extended amount of time,” he said. “Our students then take them into the classroom for inspection and candling where they search for cracks, deformities, deficiencies, etc. The eggs are then packaged and sold to our teachers and students in order to help fund the operation!”
Bragg said his students have also hatched and raised quail and ducks, “which are equally as exciting to raise for the students.”
The school added the Nubian bucklings, he said, because that breed of goats 
can be used for meat as well as dairy, and they are “known for their gentle temperament that makes them easier to work and teach with.”
He said he asked Timms to visit with her Miniature Highland Cow so that his students could learn about the various uses of animals in agriculture.
“It is great for my students to see the neat things they can pursue if they are in the FFA,” he said.