Kids: Innocent Fun or Chicken Torturers?

[JP101010]

Stress on any living creature has negative side effects. so the events your describing could very well upset the egg production. also it increases the chance if injury to the chicken upon landing.
not to mention its extremely important to teach kids to respect living creatures. by allowing it your sending the message that theres nothing wrong with it. If its not something you yourself would routinely do with your flock you shouldnt let the neighbors kid do it.In a scenario with young kids, I would politely tell them " chickens are not for chasing or tossing , because they might be scared or get hurt. how about you help me give them a treat?"
It might not make a difference to the kid if they have been raised in a house where "rough housing" with animals is ok... but by communicating clearly that it is not allowed , your chickens will not have to be stressed. a happy hen is a productive hen

________________________________________________________________
Dar wrote:

not to spark a spat.....but......

would you like for me to throw you up in the air ..only as high as you can jump.....over and over and over?
_________________________________________________________________________________

I agree this is a valid point- and can be used as a great tool to put things into perspective for young kids to understand empathy.

 

[nanawendy]

Perfect time for a "life lesson"... your awesome because you knew enough to ask. We had a "chick days" in the spring to bring awareness to the whole chicken thing. My grandsons (ages 4 and 7) lead the topics w/ the help of an older girl that raises chickens.... Have your kids so some studying... get a book or two @ the library . It ended w/ the kids being able to feed the girls Since the girls are laying I'm giving all who came the baby eggs those chicks . It could be a fun summer project.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Yep....
Its mean... period.

 

[hmmcc123]

I am so glad I read this. I feel the same way about kids disrespect to chickens or any animals for that matter. I have two kids, 12 (girl) and 10 (boy). My oldest is kind of disrespectful to the chickens. I don't think she does it purposely to try to hurt them she is just trying to entertain herself. She has never had a natural instict with animals. She like chasing them (relentlessly) to catch them and tossing them in the air to watch them fly. My youngest is not that bad with them. He does on occasion throw them to watch them fly. He does have a natural, gentle kindness with animal. I get after them when they do this as I don't like to see them do that to them and it makes me so upset. After reading this, I am going to really put my foot down with them. They will not be allowed to hold the chickens if they handle them with care and place them on the ground gentley.

Thank you OP and those who replied. You have opened my eyes more to the actual stress my kids are causing our pet egg laying flock and that I need to set some serious ground rules.

 

[danielkbrantley]

Quote:
Great idea! Thanks.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

It's not torture, but neither is it a good idea. I'd gently make the kids stop doing it. There is the potential for injury to the hens, especially if they are already laying, and it's the sort of thing that can provoke an otherwise well behaved rooster into attacking a child if he came to believe they were hurting his hens.

There are many ways for kids to peaceably interact with chickens. This is not one of them.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

how old are your kids? all kids need guidance and don't prob realize this isn't cool, it's just their nature, but after the chicken toss gets old, what next...maybe they are facinated with flight, but still, if your thinking it, you already know what to do, it's kinda like, a cat always lands on it's feet right? Time to learn empathy

 

[ninabeast]

This thread could not be more perfectly timed for me. My 7-year old stepdaughter, out of my sight, bounced Trixie on the trampoline last Saturday. Luckily, her older sister tattled on her, and MAN. Did she get a piece of my mind! I'm sure it was a lot of fun to watch Trixie flap her wings with each bounce, but she didn't think that she was terrifying and possibly endangering her "friend". There were many, many tears that night, I tell you! I was FURIOUS.

Then my DH has the gall to say, "I could have told you that would happen, eventually." REALLY??!! Well, all-seeing, all-knowing one, you could have given a girl a heads up!

Fortunately, no animals were harmed in the making of this little family drama.

 

[annep]

I have several children...We have a dog, who loves to play, rabbits, some of which love to be held, then our chickens, who dont like much of anything..I have caught my kiddos being what I think is too rough with the chickens, and put a stop to it. We are in charge of those chickens. They lay eggs for us, and we feed/water them. They must be treated with respect,being one of God's creations. If we need to put one down, it's because it needs to be done..We are hunters in our family. We are not total animal activists..There's a balance..I would much rather see an animal treated with respect, especially when it has it's purpose in our family...

 

[sourland]

Not torture, but not a good practice. Chickens or any animals are not toys. It's simply a matter of educating the kids-- not their fault unless the activity continues once they have been 'educated.'