(Well-meaning) human predators in the chicken run, Oh No!

[faithfulchris]

I always recommend using padlocks. I have locks on the nest boxes which I can access from outside of coop too. When I am not home I confine chickens to coop. This is a teaching moment for these children in not only learning respect for others property but for the animals as well. I wouldn't go to their vacation home because it makes you look like an annoyed neighbor. When they visit again talk to them about chickens, how delicate they are especially at this age, how certain foods could harm them..apple seeds, eggplant, etc Ask if they would like to help you feed them at a certain time during the day. I would also suggest signs saying BEWARE OF DOG for insurance purposes even though you feel he is safe.

 

[gtaus]

...Those 12 year old children will soon be parents bringing their children to visit and the lessons you are teaching will be carried on to them....
...
When my 3 year old grandson opened the gate to one of my breed pens and walked in with his little can of scratch, he was flogged by a rooster. ... the "mean" rooster made great chicken&noodle. ...Now 12 the tyke still talks about how good he tasted.

First of all, thank you for the kind words. I may not be around when these children are old enough to bring their kids to the lake, but at least I know they left with some positive experiences with chickens this summer. I just try to do my part, and hope others will pick up where I leave off.

Nice story about the rooster and the boy. I'd have no problem culling an aggressive rooster. All the more important that you were able to harvest the bird and provide food for the family. I'm sure the tyke learned lessons about the cycle of life and that not all animals are pets, and indeed, some are meant for human food.

I think it's important that people know where animal meat comes from and how we need to respect that process. But then, I was raised by my grandfather who was an avid hunter and fisherman. I was in his fishing boat at 6 months old and cleaning catch about 9 years old. What I know about protecting nature and conserving wildlife came from those lessons with my grandfather out in the field and on the lake.

Well, I do my small part and I hope these kids learned a little bit about chickens this summer. Maybe next year I will be able to give them some eggs if they come to visit. That would be nice.

 

[gtaus]

I always recommend using padlocks. I have locks on the nest boxes which I can access from outside of coop too. When I am not home I confine chickens to coop. This is a teaching moment for these children in not only learning respect for others property but for the animals as well. I wouldn't go to their vacation home because it makes you look like an annoyed neighbor. When they visit again talk to them about chickens, how delicate they are especially at this age, how certain foods could harm them..apple seeds, eggplant, etc Ask if they would like to help you feed them at a certain time during the day. I would also suggest signs saying BEWARE OF DOG for insurance purposes even though you feel he is safe.

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I will be buying some padlocks.

I was able to talk to the children when they came back to visit, and I offered them food I had set aside to fed to the chickens. So the children learned to sit down quietly, extend out their hands and keep them very still, and soon the chicks were eating out of their little hands. The kids had a blast and I really enjoyed watching the joy my chickens brought to the kids.

I did post a sign "Beware of Chickens" but it's mostly a joke as my birds are only 11 weeks old. No mean roosters in my flock. I also posted the "Keep Gate Closed - no matter what the chickens say" sign on the gate. I think it's funny and gets the message across at the same time. The signs are also a good way to open up a conversation about how important boundaries are to keep the chickens safe. I may post a few other signs I have found on the internet. Humor, I believe, works better than a list of Do's and Don'ts, so that is what I look for in my signs.

 

[Hopper Michealson]

The convo here dances along many spectrums. 12 isn’t so young to not understand coming onto another’s property isn’t acceptable. My guess the parents or lack of parenting is to blame. These same parents would most likely sue you should an injury occur on your property.

The proper path forward is to tell the “children” that if they want to visit, their parents would need to accompany them and more importantly advise you by calling ahead or at least knocking on your door.

 

[Elsveta641]

Need some suggestions on how to handle young neighborhood kids...

This morning, it was raining outside. Normally, I open the pop door on the coop and let the chickens out into the run fairly early in the morning. But, since it was raining, I was taking my time today knowing the birds have both food and water in the coop. Well, the rain slowed down to a light sprinkling, so I headed out to the garage to get some fresh feed for my 10 ten-week-old pullets.

As I turned the corner of the garage, feed bucket in hand, I saw two young neighborhood boys not only in the chicken run, but trying to open the sliding pop door! OK, not good, but try not to panic.

I live on a lake and in the summer we get lots of visiting people for a short period of time. These boys are only here for a few weeks, they are about 12 years old, and they came bearing a sack of lettuce to feed to the chickens. Since the chickens were still in the coop, they were trying to figure out how to open the pop door to feed the lettuce to the birds. So, truly, their hearts were in the right place. But we all know about unintended consequences....

My chicken run has a dog kennel gate panel and I use that gate to get in/out of the chicken run. The gate latch has a secure locking feature to put on a padlock, or in my case, I just use a carabiner. That locks the gate latch for most predators, but certainly not humans. Likewise, I use a carabiner on the chicken coop access door gate latch. Again, easy for humans to bypass.

The kids were not able to get the sliding pop door open. So I guess that my design was tested under fire in real life. When I made the sliding pop door, I added extra weight to the door inside the coop and the bottom of the sliding door extends down into the framing so you cannot get your fingers under, over, or around the door. The door itself is smooth and slippery, so you can't get any leverage on it to pull it up - I tried with my bare hands and I could not do it. Fortunately, neither could these kids.

So, trying to be very calm and understanding, I wished the boys "Good morning" and asked them if they had come to visit the chickens. They said they had some nice lettuce to feed the chickens but they could not get the door open to feed the birds. So I told them that I was also feeding the birds, and that I had to open the small pop door from inside the coop. So they came out of the chicken run and actually not only shut the gate behind them, but also put the carabiner back on for me. That was good.

I opened the pop door and the birds came out. They started throwing lettuce into the run and the chicks got scared and ran right back into the coop! I explained to the kids that these chicks are not used to having people around as I have been the only one to feed and care for them since they were day-old chicks. But I thanked them for the lettuce and thinking of the birds. I told them that they would be back out later and would eat the lettuce then. They seemed to be OK with that and after a short while they left and went back home.

Afterwards, I was thinking about what I should have/could have said.... For example, even though I was thanking them for thinking of the birds and bringing some nice lettuce for them, I should have also told them that if the chickens are not outside, that I might not be at home and don't want the chickens outside in the run. I should have told them that only I should open the pop door and that others should not try to get into the coop. I just did not think of it at the time.

I don't want to be the grumpy old man yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off my lawn, but I am concerned that a gate would be left open, the chickens get out, and then killed by a dog, eagle, hawk, etc... So I am thinking about putting padlocks on the coop and gate, at least during the summer when the visiting neighbors arrive. These kids will only be here a few weeks, and I really want to encourage them to enjoy my chickens and feel free to visit. My wife and I never had any children, so I am not quite sure on how to best both encourage these children while at the same time stressing to them that there are boundaries which should not be crossed - like going into the chicken run and trying to open the pop door!

Well, if you have read this post thus far, you are probably the type of person who could offer me some suggestions on how to better handle these type of situations with the neighborhood kids. So I open it up to you for some thoughts. Thanks in advance.

12 is old enough to know better thank to trespass or bother strangers pets. Tell them nicely to knock on the door to get you if they want to visit the chickens and if no one answers to come back later. No bugging the chickens without you. If you want, lie and say you have a huge mean rooster around someplace that's missing and if he shows up he might hurt them. Or a bad tempered Turkey, whatever. If they approach your animals again without knocking after you talk to them, contact law enforcement because they're up to no good and dont want to just feed the birds if they disobey that simple rule. The cops will find their parents and hopefully that will straighten it out

 

[StaffordshireLady]

Yes, this!! Tell them to get up around 5:30 or 6 tomorrow morning and come on over to scoop the poop the chickens made with their lettuce.

Now now!

 

[StaffordshireLady]

How nice of you to give your 14 year old perspective. That means a lot to me. Yes, I am thinking about posting some humorous signs that get across the point that it's OK to enjoy the chickens, but the gate needs to be kept shut.

I found this on Amazon, what do you think?
View attachment 1840991

I LOVE IT!

 

[gtaus]

12 is old enough to know better thank to trespass or bother strangers pets. Tell them nicely to knock on the door to get you if they want to visit the chickens and if no one answers to come back later. No bugging the chickens without you. If you want, lie and say you have a huge mean rooster around someplace that's missing and if he shows up he might hurt them. Or a bad tempered Turkey, whatever. If they approach your animals again without knocking after you talk to them, contact law enforcement because they're up to no good and dont want to just feed the birds if they disobey that simple rule. The cops will find their parents and hopefully that will straighten it out

Thank you for the response. These children came over with kitchen scraps for the birds, so I know that they meant well. Also, I live on what used to be a lake resort, and these families come here during the summer for vacation only for a week or two. The children meant well, and when they came back to visit my chickens I was able to talk to them and mention some things I wish I would have said the first time. But everything worked out well and I could not be happier. Many excellent suggestions from the BYC community helped me come up with a plan that worked for me. I appreciated all the responses.

 

[oldhen2345]

Need some suggestions on how to handle young neighborhood kids...

" I am not quite sure on how to best both encourage these children while at the same time stressing to them that there are boundaries which should not be crossed - like going into the chicken run and trying to open the pop door!

QUOTE]
I have had the same issue. When I was working and away from home all day I would come home to find things messed with in the coop - the side door left open- it has a slide latch, so it doesn't open by itself, the shed door standing open, ceramic statues broken on the patio. I thought it was kids - but this year when I went to clean and straighten out the shed, I found some tools missing - I had bought a new pole saw that was still in the box. When I went to move it, the box was empty. Now, I padlock the two privacy fence gates from the inside, put padlocks on the yard shed and the small Christmas decoration shed. I lock the main shed, but still, occasionally I find the chicken coop has been messed with. I have recently put game cameras in the yard. I hate to live in a fortress, but that is the world I live in.

 

[oldhen2345]

Need some suggestions on how to handle young neighborhood kids...

" I am not quite sure on how to best both encourage these children while at the same time stressing to them that there are boundaries which should not be crossed - like going into the chicken run and trying to open the pop door!

QUOTE]
I have had the same issue. When I was working and away from home all day I would come home to find things messed with in the coop - the side door left open- it has a slide latch, so it doesn't open by itself, the shed door standing open, ceramic statues broken on the patio. I thought it was kids - but this year when I went to clean and straighten out the shed, I found some tools missing - I had bought a new pole saw that was still in the box. When I went to move it, the box was empty. Now, I padlock the two privacy fence gates from the inside, put padlocks on the yard shed and the small Christmas decoration shed. I lock the main shed, but still, occasionally I find the chicken coop has been messed with. I have recently put game cameras in the yard. I hate to live in a fortress, but that is the world I live in.