I don't think I'd ever let a child get his/her face too close to an animal; they're just too unpredictable. I learned the hard way. When my son was 3 or 4 y.o., I turned my back and he tried to hug the neighbor's dog while she was eating. She nipped him next to his eye. Now, 33 y.o., he still has the scar. It wasn't the dog's fault; they're instinctively defensive/protective around food, but a child doesn't realize that. All they're thinking is, "I was just trying to be nice". Maybe the chicken was just curious about his eye. Animals don't always respond the way we think they should.