Chickens and kids

[Veggiefirsttimer]

Good morning all,
We are new to this veggie patch thing and are lucky enough to have quite a long garden and do it all at home. We have put in the veg patch and all appears to be going well and now the kids want some chickens, which we have been talking about for a few years.

Which chickens are best around children? Is it best to buy them young so the chickens grow up with the children?

[Scarlet]

Well. When my kids were very small they had Peking bantams. They come in a variety of colours and are really pretty with feathered feet. My kids handled them most days and they were extremely friendly. Although the eggs are much smaller than that of a large fowl breed, great size for kids, salad etc.
I keep large fowl breeds as well and I find that most of them if handled often become very tame. Sussex are a good choice, very calm etc. Marans are also very easy going birds and not nervous, depends what you can find in your area.

[elizajay]

I also started with Pekin bantams and loved them. they do get tame with handling and although the eggs are smaller they have a higher yolk to white ratio. I have a mixture of bantams and large fowl now but no Pekins and the tamest are definitely the large fowl hybrids. As Chris says they are "silly tame". Apart from a few flighty breeds I think any hens will get tame with handling. The exception in my case is a Japanese bantam, cheeky look in her eye and knows I am the source of good things, but avoids being handled.

[Veggiefirsttimer]

We have quite a good chicken farm in crediton, Devon which isn't to far away so choice shouldn't be an issue! We just want to make sure the kids have friendly chickens so they can do most of the looking after and collecting eggs!

Thank you for the information!

[chris]

Most hens, if handled properly and caringly will be fine with children. My youngest (almost 2) is a bit too "much" for my chickens, but my almost 4 year old is fine with them. Infact, one used to sleep on her I think there's a picture floating around somewhere of it.. but it was when she was quite new to the flock (the chicken, not the daughter ).

That said...I have a leghorn cross - who is flighty and does not like being handled at ALL - she really struggles if you hold her too. She's coming around though, and will finally eat out of my hand now - it's taking a while to "tame" her though.

Anyway - you should tell your children to keep their faces away from the birds. They'll peck at anything that looks edible, and eyes - all sparkly and darting all over the place look attractive to chooks. I speak out of experience. One of mine pecks toes if they're visible, or moles on skin too (she leaves a mark). This one will peck you if she'd had enough of being stroked - my daughter has been nipped a couple of times - the kids soon learn when enough is enough that way

Edit: there's a recommendation thread - have a gander at that! My most docile bird is our warren, you could hold her upside down by a toe and she'd come back for more.

[Mikey]

I have a legbar and a White star both hybrid birds and neither like being picked up at all. I got them at point of lay, and not wanting to look like a complete novice let the owner get them for me.

I think when you go and get your birds its best to see if you can approach them yourself over open ground. If they are used to being handled they will squat down for you with their wings slightly fanned. These will be the most docile birds and are used to being picked up.

The ones that keep running away from you, probably always will. The younger you get the birds the easier it is to tame them, cos its easier to catch them and handle them!!!

[Veggiefirsttimer]

Definitely don't want an eye eating chicken! Ha ha ha! I'm secretly a little terrified of birds but the rest of the family are desperate for them!

I think I will pick the one that is happy for me to catch it, without scaring me! The pecking bantams sound are sounding like out best bet, the smaller eggs shouldn't be an issue.

I took a drive down to the chicken farm only to find they have now closed, not sure why but the whole place look derelict! Such a shame :-(

I'll do a little more research and find another farm close by!

Thank you all for the info and your stories!

[Two_Sheds]

Don't even consider it until you have adequate fox-proofed your yard. They can and will get in, and the children will be distraught to find their pets headless & bloody on the lawn (it happened to my brother's, in the middle of a very urban housing estate).

[Veggiefirsttimer]

Oh no, dad had chickens few years ago and this happened to him too! I should think there will be foxes hanging around where we live :-(

[Two_Sheds]

Then you need to totally enclose the coop & run. Totally. Foxes can easily scale 6ft fences, and they DO hunt in broad daylight

[Veggiefirsttimer]

I would be horrified if a fox had hopped over for its breakfast, lunch or dinner so will definitely make sure all is secure before buying any chickens! Thanks you all for your advice!

[RedThorn]

Worst thing 'bout foxes is they do it for fun and kill the lot. Fox proofing is essential.

[Likac66]

We only got our chickens a couple of weeks ago and my two children LOVE them. They are 10yrs and 8yrs old and the youngest, who is most confident with animals etc, loves spending time with the chickens. She feeds them, talks to them and loves just sitting by the side of their run talking to them. My eldest, who is a bit more nervous of animals, is becoming more and more confident with them and luckily "her" chicken has also turned out to be the tamest and possibly most mischievous! She came home from school a couple of days ago with a book mark she had made with "I heart Pepper" all over it and she talks about her non-stop. I have heard that cockerels can be more aggressive but I don't plan to have one as the noise would be prohibitive on a very suburban housing estate.