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

[MysticUniKitty]

Well I'll just throw my two cents into the comments pond of this. I'm a mom to 3 boys ages 14,11,&5.
I'm a grumpy person so I probably would've yelled. So i think what you wished you said would've been ok. But also remember they are preteens, that age and up don't want baby talk.. just tell them how it is but a kind voice.
My kids hardly listen to me so sometimes I use scare tactics to make sure they understand that there are consequences and rules.

You could always put up a "warning: attack chickens live here" sign....

 

[BreanneRN]

I think you are right for now to avoid parent involvement (getting the kids "in trouble"), as the most likely response from the parents would be "don't go over there and bother him anymore", regardless of what they say to you. Since they are there for such a short time, I think you are doing the right thing... One day, the next generation will appear, as you say. In your situation, I would not want to be "the grumpy old man that we have to avoid" instead of the "friendly guy with the chickens"... But, I was a kid like that once. And though I am old now, I still remember. And still love my chickens...

 

[AmyJane725]

I can't imagine my life without my wife of 30+ years. But I'm the "crazy chicken lady" in our household. We share some interests in common, but have many other interests each on our own. We got married in our late 20's and were truly two people who married and stayed two people in many respects. I don't think that is bad. At least, it has worked for us. So don't limit yourself. Always enjoy your posts. Thanks.

(Edit: Not intended to be any advice on dating. Not responsible for actions of others. I don't know what I am saying. Please don't listen to me on this subject.)

I don't know how I feel about that one way or another. I've only ever been with one guy. We were together for like 5.5 years, and engaged for 4 of those. We didn't share many interests, and he was pretty critical of my interests. I'd rather just share interests so we can do stuff together. I'm more of a 2 become 1 kind of person when it comes to marriage. I lived for my ex. He was my top priority all the time. I went out of my way, in every way, to take care of him and make him happy. He never placed me so high on his priority list though. It's really painful. We broke up almost a year ago and I'm still devastated.

I enjoy your posts as well, they're funny. I need laughs in my life.

@AmyJane725 just start your own post on the social forum;
27 yr old single, crotchety, chicken-lovin' female looking to meet gentlemen with similar attributes.
I'd love to see you find love on BYC it would make for a great feature story.
Good luck!

It would make for a good/cute story. If that somehow does happen I'll let it be known throughout the forum.

I think you would need to juice it up a bit. Like;

27 yr old single, feisty, chicken-lovin' broody female looking to meet gentlemen rooster with sweet appealing chicken mating dance.

Too much? I don't know. You might get more responses than desired. Just saying....

That's a cute idea. Would be nice to have someone to roost with. I'm not broody though, and that's probably part of the problem. All of the nice gentlemanly roosters want broody mamas to raise their chicks. The ones not interested in chicks (in my experience) tend to have aggressive/creepy mating preferences. I just want a militantly loyal/protective loner roo who loves me and crows at basically everyone else.

 

[aart]

My situation may be a little more complicated in property lines. My property is on what used to be a lakeside resort. The visiting neighbors have access to their privately owned family cabins only by going through my property on my road. I cannot block access to my property, even if I wanted.

I understand this scenario...spent some summer time in a similar place as a kid.

 

[Brady bunch]

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.

You should calmly tell the kids the boundaries and say how they need to act around the chickens so they don’t get spooked. Trust me they should not get mad.

 

[Cryss]

I'd invite them in the run later with something to sit on and show them how to sit quietly so they can watch their antics. I would gently talk about predators and the need for boundaries. Let them know that you will be putting a lock on the run because there may be other children, not so polite as they themselves are, who might try to do the same. This way you have rewarded the good behavior and instructed the proper behavior.

 

[cmom]

Personally I don't want anyone in my pens. I don't know where they have been and I don't want something introduced into my flocks. I would put a lock on until they are gone. Their hearts were in the right place but maybe ask them to come to you first before giving anything to the birds. My kids are in their 50's and neither had any kids so I have never had to really deal with it except once in awhile I have had some egg customers bring over some children to see the birds. They don't get too close because I have electric wire around the pens and I tell them if they touch it they will get a shock. I had been turning it off during the day but have seen some predators such as fox and coyotes once in awhile during the day. Good luck...

 

[gtaus]

But also remember they are preteens, that age and up don't want baby talk.. just tell them how it is but a kind voice.

Thank you for the advice. I have never been a parent and that is one of the primary reasons why I posed my question here on BYC. I want to effectively communicate with these boys, if they do come back, but I don't want to talk down to them or scare them off. I have received many great responses and think I will be much better prepared if the boys come back again, which I hope they do.

 

[gtaus]

I’m 14 and sometimes us kids don’t understand some things, if I saw a new padlock on a door that I often visit, I would probably assume that the owner is mad or a grump, but if there was a kind note then I would not be scared off, just something to think about!

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?

 

[gtaus]

Personally I don't want anyone in my pens.

I feel the same way, unless invited into the chicken run by me, people should enjoy the chickens from the outside of the fence.