AITA for not wanting small kids to chase/ handle the chickens?

[my spoiled chickens]

That’s a good point it’s just annoying when people go out of their way to pet mine

I always ask before petting someone elses dog because my grand mother got a lot of shelter dogs and not all of them were good and she taught me to respect animals

 

[my spoiled chickens]

As a parent I would be absolutely appalled and embarrassed if my boys started chasing around someone’s chickens. My kids know that you respect animals, always ask before you go into someone else’s barn/coop, always ask before you pet/pick-up someone else’s animals and never put an animal in a situation where they feel threatened. If she wants those kids to learn a lesson it should be about basic respect for all living things. My nieces came to visit once. I explicitly said no one was to be in the barn around the animals unsupervised. Not even 10 minutes later I heard my animals going crazy and came out to them chasing my poultry around. One of the girls managed to grab a bird and got the crap scratched out of her chest. I am not a person who yells so when I raise my voice everyone and I mean everyone knows that I mean business. I very loudly and sternly said “Put down the birds, get out of my barn before I pack you all up, put you back in your car and send you home. I do not give a d**n that you just had a 7 hour trip I will make it 14.” Her mother came over and said “Did you warn her about their nails? She is all scratched up!”. I replied “That bird was defending itself against your little angel attacking it. Maybe your daughter will learn next time to listen to what she is told”. Guess what? That was 3 years ago and I have not invited them back.

 

[SamLockwood]

So I was at a cookout yesterday, and the kids of a family friend, as well as my little siblings, wanted to play with the chickens. They were chasing the chickens around the yard, cornering them, and picking them up. One of the Rhode Island Red girls seemed very stressed, and had puffed up the feathers on the back of her neck in anger. I got into an argument with my mom, who kept insisting that it was a “learning experience”, and that I should “let the kids have fun”. They’re technically my mom’s birds, but I take care of them, and when they’re upset, I’m upset. I just don’t think a bunch of 5- 10 year olds should be treating the animals like that.

I agree that's not the right way to treat chickens. If you had a rooster in that situation the kids' "learning experience" might have included getting spurred. And no, I wouldn't blame the rooster in that situation.

The problem you have is if they're her birds in her property there's not a lot you can do. It sounds like you've got to decide how far you want and are able to take things in this: like moving to chickens to a property you have control of and how far you want to strain the relationship with your mother in favor of the chickens.

 

[PopoMyers]

It's the adults who think my animals are "learning tools" for their children that are always the problem, and heaven help you if you suggest otherwise. I'm always the "meanie" who doesn't like or understand children. Of course, the people who actually put in the time and effort to teach their kids empathy and how to be around animals, and who understand other people's animals are "look, don't touch" until told otherwise never seem to have a problem with me. Interesting how that works. I'm sorry about your mom. Has she ever though about how it would feel to be chased around by things she finds disruptive and/or scary? Sometimes people have a hard time putting themselves in an animal's shoes, so to speak. Children aren't scary to her, so she's not seeing them through the eyes of a confused and upset chicken. I hope she can be convinced to understand that cruelty can look benign, and adopt a different attitude for the future.

Perhaps she would like a bear to chase her around so it can have a learning experience....

Anytime I am expecting children, I politely tell them and parents that my chickens are off limits. Smart chickens stayed on the other side of the run, far away from the 14 kids we had over that day.

 

[K0k0shka]

How old are you? Some of the comments, as well as your post, imply that you may be a minor yourself. In that case you may not have much of a say against the adults, if the adults (your mom and the parents of the disrespectful kids) don't see a problem here. But if you are the one taking care of the chickens, then that gives you some say at least. You are absolutely right in this situation - everybody else's behavior and attitude is unacceptable (your mom, the kids, and the parents, who all allow this and don't see a problem). I imagine the chickens have some sort of run where they can be fenced in away from the open space with the guests? If they do, close them there when having people over. If they don't, I highly recommend you look into setting something up, so they don't have to be either loose roaming all over the property, or in a coop. Close them in a run when you have people over, put a padlock on the door if you have to, and make it clear that guests can interact with the chickens only under your supervision.

I host a large double-birthday party for my kids every year, where we have LOTS of kids running around and a lot of adults, too. I don't free range my chickens so that really helps. But I also have strict rules - nobody goes in the run unsupervised, and I only let them in a couple at a time, and guide them on how to get down low and move slowly so as not to appear threatening, and never to chase. I have docile birds so I'll hold one of them and let the kids pet her. Kids are curious and want to explore the world, but don't know how. Their instinct is to chase and grab. They need to be shown proper ways of interacting with animals, and chickens are still uncommon enough that the average kid may just not know what to do with them (and their parents wouldn't know what to teach them either). So make the rules known at the start of the party, and make sure the parents understand.

Even though I try to understand the other people's side of it, what I would not excuse or be patient with, is children approaching (including chasing) and touching somebody else's animal - ANY animal - without asking the owner first. Doesn't matter if it's a dog, cat, horse, chicken or anything else.

 

[McChooky]

I don't know how long my rooster would be nice if he saw someone chasing his hens.Fortunately I am the only person around them.