Killed my hen after she pecked my son's eye - 2nd time

[Dwight1Moore]

Interesting for a first post........

 

[amoretsky]

Kathy,
Thanks. I'm not so thin skinned and I needed to hear this. I've been remiss with my son. We're new to this and the 2 chickens we have are our first experience. Too bad, he's been good letting the chicken out of our home made coop and feeding it. Just too close to them trying to make them his friends as well.

The rooster is more stand offish.

I'll get another and do better with the chicken and with my son.

Allen in pensacola

 

[SassyKat6181]

My son loves to collect the eggs. When he was 3, one of our hens jumped up and pecked him on the lip, causing it to bleed. I did not blame the hen......I blamed myself. It could have easily been his eye! From then on, I made sure he wore safety glasses and his tall boots.

 

[groundpecker]

If you own chickens, there is a good chance you will get pecked in the eye and anywhere else exposed. The best thing to do is have children wear safety equipment when handling birds and also how to sanitize after handling.

 

[amoretsky]

Thanks. I saw this on your WEB site:
" Warning! Chickens may attack without warning or being provoked.". That's appropriate.

The safety stuff is difficult. The chickens are in the back yard roaming around and my son is in and out of the house. No, I need to teach him how to handle them better. Me too. There are no kids here and I'm Home Schooling so the chickens, or this chicken, was his friend, his playmate. My son was ruling the roost and mostly just bringing them snacks all the time.

These postings have been good for me. I needed to see this. I just have to control the situation better. I'll figure something out. Maybe just a hands off and certainly no more picking up the chickens. No issue now because the rooster wouldn't stand still to be picked up anyhow. He's too shy.

 

[Blondiechic]

I can't tell you how much I agree with the others who say don't get another chicken - you are the type of animal owner that makes my blood boil - YOU do the wrong thing by not teaching your son how to handle the pet and then kill the pet? God forbid if you had a cat, dog or horse...praying for them that you don't.

So, the chicken is so tame you can pick her up and she comes when she is called? She behaves like a CHICKEN and you kill her? Your post made me feel ill and so very sorry for her to have ended up with you.

 

[Chicks on DL]

Thank you Allen for the post, it has been a learning experience for me. I tell my kids all the time now to get their face near the hen and I have to remind them frequently. I have worried that one of the hens will get fed up and peck one of the kids, like they do to other hens sometimes, which is normal chicken behavior. I make the kids wash their hands before and after handling the chickens but have not thought about eye wear. Very good advice for a 3-year-old because they can be impulsive and forget the rules. My Buff Orphington is the nicest creature and loves to be around humans, while the others seem to just tolerate us. You might want to think about this breed. Also, handle the hens before you buy one and see which one has the temperament you want. My BO is the one that was quiet when we picked her up and would sit on your shoulder and she is the best of my bunch.

 

[ontimeborzoi]

Ummm....I hesitate to bring this up, giving the drubbing you're taking Allen, but did you say you have two chickens? A hen and a rooster? Oh dear. Had them long? Because really, you will need about, oh, nine or so more hens for this to work out, regardless of eye pecking issues.
I'm very cautious bending over near chickens, putting my face closer, like when I pick up eggs. They peck at stuff. They have no hands, their beak is how they explore the world. I've had them draw blood on my hands. Don't even want to think of what they could do to an eyeball.

 

[Beekissed]

I can't tell you how much I agree with the others who say don't get another chicken - you are the type of animal owner that makes my blood boil - YOU do the wrong thing by not teaching your son how to handle the pet and then kill the pet? God forbid if you had a cat, dog or horse...praying for them that you don't.

So, the chicken is so tame you can pick her up and she comes when she is called? She behaves like a CHICKEN and you kill her? Your post made me feel ill and so very sorry for her to have ended up with you.

Hey! The guy admits he made a mistake and we ALL have made mistakes here. I must admit that I was a little irritated when I read the post and that probably shows a little much in my first post and I apologize to the OP, Allen. I normally don't have a bit of a problem killing a nasty bird and will do it quick as a wink, so I can sympathize, but I normally don't do it for just simple pecking. And I was more than a little worried about the boy's welfare as well.

I respect that Allen is willing to learn and can admit he might have been a little hasty....we don't have to abuse the fella!

As long as you're praying, pray for us all for being so judgemental and hasty to jump the poor guy. I know I was and I feel pretty badly about it.

 

[Lacrystol]

Personally I would not allow a 3 year old to go near or around my chickens, they don't know right from wrong at that age plus they get careless and could drop the chicken then you have an injury to deal with... But I do like the eyeglasses idea, chickens peck, that's what they do all day long, that's how they eat, drink etc. You can't just tell them to stop there normal everyday active. How can you expect a chicken to NOT peck when it's part of there life.. Now I'm wondering who learned a lesson here? The chicken or the child? I would say no one did, but yet a life was lost....

Going around and getting more chickens, is a terrible idea unless you plan on just eating them all the time because it will happen again. Thank god it wasn't a rooster, LOL. The only good thing out of this story is nothing went to waste...

I'm in my 40's and my friendlies chicken will still peck at me today, do I learn NOPE, only I don't consider it a peck, I call it a kiss. Yip my chickens kiss me and sometimes really, really HARD.. LOL.... when they are sitting on eggs OH BOY, they are spiteful.. I have Two girls and each day I have to check to make sure they have only the number of eggs that I would allow otherwise they will keep collecting and collecting and collecting.. When I check them sure enough, they never miss a beat, they peck so hard they will leave an indent... Do I blame my girls? NOPE she's just doing her job... it's there nature....