Our only predator so far.....11 year old boy

[harleychick]

"Hey (whatever the mom's name is), I just wanted to talk to you about little Hellhound's behavior with my birds the other night. The reason I thought I better talk to you about it is that I want to make sure that he understands why that behavior was unacceptable. It may be just a coincedence, but one of my hens died sometime in the night following his kicking the hens. It may not be a direct result of his kicking the hens, but what he did may have contributed to the hen's death, either by stressing her out or causing her to go into shock. I thought that I better let you know so that we can make sure he learns how delicate animals can be and how what seemed like horseplay can result in potential dire consequences. I want you to know that I'm not blaming little Hellhound for the chickens death, it could have been something else that caused it, but i just want him to get a chance to learn how to interact with animals safely, for him and for the animals sake. "

I really like this. I have to say that your name for the boy made be laugh! " Little Hellbound"

Thanks again for everyone's help with this. I love the people on this message board!

 

[Papadavid]

Randy, and Bear Foot, is absolutely right. I can't believe the things being said and assumptions made about this!! Be very careful of accusing someone's child of something if you don't know the fact for sure. It could cause a lot more than hard feelings. From kicking at a chicken to a serial killer!

Just dang.

 

[harleychick]

Papadavid: Don't worry... I don't plan on accusing the child of killing my chicken. You are right that I don't know for sure how my chicken died. I do however know that he was kicking AT my chickens as if he was kicking a football..... That behavior alone is worrisome.
If my 12 year of son had been kicking at someone else's chickens or any animal for that matter, I would want to know about it.

I was really just sad that my chicken had died.. (first time I've lost one) and I knew that people here would understand. I am thankful to have a place to talk about my chickens .... my family thinks I am a little crazy!

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
Boy, you're good with the tactful stuff!!! That sounds like exactly the right tone to me. As long as your tone is not accusatory when you say it!! Seems like a good compromise between letting the parents know what their kid was up to and what happened later without accusing the kid. As others have said, chickens die all the time for no apparent reason. Whether the boy was trying to make contact or not with the kicking - he may have just been wanting to see them run around, or maybe he was afraid of them and was trying to keep them away from him - the stress of it could have been fatal to a chicken with an undetected health problem, for instance.

I think the above lets the parents know about the behavior and gives them a way to view it as an unfortunate incident that nonetheless needs to be addressed so it doesn't happen again at anyone's house with anyone's animals.

 

[tri-5-ron]

Well I just rea through this thread, and agree that in all probability, the boy had someting to do with the loss of your bird.
Granted, it is possible that the timing was a coinsidence, but I rather doubt it.
sorry for the loss of your bird.

if it would help, I'll go Flog, and Electrocute my own kids tonight for you, just because they too are kids, and that kind of makes them guilty by association.
just give me the word,... and the beatings will commence !

(JUST KIDDING)

sorry for your loss.
that's a tough situation to be in.

 

[Me & My Peeps]

And I'll do the same! Im sure they have it coming for something that I didn't catch them on!!

 

[Yardbirds286]

So sorry for the loss of your hen. I told my 10 year old son what happened, and he said that kid needs to be taught a real good lesson.

That is just messed up harming an animal for "fun".

 

[NWChicks]

Quote:

 

[redhen]

Quote:
He WAS kicking at the chickens... the OP stated that...and yes, animal cruelty in children IS one of the first signs of a socio-path...
whether you want to hear it or not. But normal children dont try to harm animals... and hes old enough to KNOW that he WAS trying to hurt them by kicking them.
And yes, i agree with the others.. the kid had to have something to do with the chickens death ..
Little Damien .... i hope his parents are paying attention ... or they're going to have a big problem when hes older...

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I would wrap the chicken up and bring it over to his house and hand it to him. When he opens it up and sees a dead chicken I would tell him that this is HIS chicken now and it is his responsibility to bury it.