when good chickens go bad

When one thinks of chickens, images of idyllic farm life come to mind. Things like little red barns and neat stacks of hay, the breeze gently blowing as the contented hens peck at the ground and softly cluck. In reality, chickens are vandals. They destroy all that is in their wicked path. No sooner is the water dispenser out, than they kick sawdust and even do their nasty business in there! They dump their food all over the floor as soon as it is lovingly handed to them. They peck at every square inch of their brood, hoping to break off pieces to stomp all over them . They have taken particular liking to taking turns at drilling at the thermometer with their beaks (I thought they loved it like a mother). They are even trying to fly up and jump on said thermometer - certainly to knock it off the wall and rip it to smithereens. We have placed a bamboo stick in the brooder to help them learn to perch. They mercilessly peck at it and move it about. I think they both fear and hate it. I even caught them "red handed" kicking their nasty business onto the wall. Time to get a gun or a coop.