Isa Browns

Chickens will lay better during the winter if they are warm and they 16 hours of light a day. Each breed is different regarding hardiness, but if you can keep them warm and some light in there you should be fine.
 
I bought six ISA Browns last spring to be my exclusive egg layers. They are extraordinary in that respect, and none has ever missed providing one egg each day since they were 14 weeks old. The problem is that they aggressively peck and bite anyone that comes into their pen. I have to wear leather boots and heavy canvas trousers to keep them from drawing blood, something they've managed to do on my arms on several occasions.

They have their own coop, and a large fenced area that is separate of my meat flock. I raised them no differently than any of my other breeds, which is to say that I personally cared for them in the brooder in my garage until they were old enough to move outside. They've never had contact with my other chicken flock - who do NOT behave this way. They share 2.5 acres with a few ducks, who live in terror of them. No real attacks, but they chase the ducks around the pasture, seemingly for entertainment.

Is this common amongst the breed? I've had a number of heritage breeds and the occasional barnyard mix in the past, but have never seen this before. These act like a flock of over-protective roosters!

I'd appreciate any insights on what to do about this behavior. We've already tried ignoring it, negative feedback (swatting when they peck), and water squirt bottles with the same lack of results. Ironically, since we don't expect to eat them, they are pretty close to being pets. They like getting stroked, do not object to being picked up, and like to roost on an outstretched arm like a bird of prey. Just don't let them get behind you!

Something else worth mentioning... these are the "escaping-est" hens I've ever owned. I had to increase their fence height to just over 8 feet to keep them from flying over, and stretch poultry wire along the entire length of the pasture fence in order to keep them from squeezing through the middle sections of the field wire. I have wire extensions extending at least a foot higher than the tops of 6' tall wooden gates to keep them from landing on the edge and jumping over. I had to pull out the parallel fence support beams from the corners of their pasture, and replace them with angled wedge supports. They used the parallel beams as a launch platform to clear the opposite side!

Any suggestions?
 
I bought six ISA Browns last spring to be my exclusive egg layers. They are extraordinary in that respect, and none has ever missed providing one egg each day since they were 14 weeks old. The problem is that they aggressively peck and bite anyone that comes into their pen. I have to wear leather boots and heavy canvas trousers to keep them from drawing blood, something they've managed to do on my arms on several occasions.

They have their own coop, and a large fenced area that is separate of my meat flock. I raised them no differently than any of my other breeds, which is to say that I personally cared for them in the brooder in my garage until they were old enough to move outside. They've never had contact with my other chicken flock - who do NOT behave this way. They share 2.5 acres with a few ducks, who live in terror of them. No real attacks, but they chase the ducks around the pasture, seemingly for entertainment. 

Is this common amongst the breed? I've had a number of heritage breeds and the occasional barnyard mix in the past, but have never seen this before. These act like a flock of over-protective roosters!

I'd appreciate any insights on what to do about this behavior. We've already tried ignoring it, negative feedback (swatting when they peck), and water squirt bottles with the same lack of results. Ironically, since we don't expect to eat them, they are pretty close to being pets. They like getting stroked, do not object to being picked up, and like to roost on an outstretched arm like a bird of prey. Just don't let them get behind you!

Something else worth mentioning... these are the "escaping-est" hens I've ever owned. I had to increase their fence height to just over 8 feet to keep them from flying over, and stretch poultry wire along the entire length of the pasture fence in order to keep them from squeezing through the middle sections of the field wire. I have wire extensions extending at least a foot higher than the tops of 6' tall wooden gates to keep them from landing on the edge and jumping over. I had to pull out the parallel fence support beams from the corners of their pasture, and replace them with angled wedge supports. They used the parallel beams as a launch platform to clear the opposite side! 

Any suggestions?
I don't have ISA Browns. I have golden comets and they behave like yours but they aren't brutal like yours. It could to be a side effect of sex-links type of chicken. My 5 girls who are 32 weeks today are heavier than your type which I believe are a cross with a white leghorn, a lite weight breed. Mine are a cross of New Hampshire roo with a white rock, both a heavier breed.A 5 foot fence has kept mine in. The highest mine have flown in their 500 square foot pen is nearly 4 feet. I have gotten 5 eggs a day most days sense they were 19 weeks. In 3 years when yours have laid their last egg consider golden comets. Hope you find a solution with your ISA Bowns. Maybe clip their wings for one of your problems. GC
 
Thanks for replying, GC. Like you, I suspect that the sex-link breeding may have something to do with their behavior. Even so, I've known other people with these birds (different breeder), and haven't heard of any aggressive tendencies like these exhibit. As this is my first time with hybrids, I'm learning as I go. I am still impressed by the consistency of their egg production. If I were in the egg business - I've considered it - I would be able to depend on a steady production level. I'm a little nervous about the life expectancy shared by previous writers. I understood from my research that they'd live 2-3 years. I wasn't counting on losing them after only 9 months! I hope that's not the case.

My wife absolutely agrees that I should clip the ISA Browns' wings. It would have saved a lot of poultry wire strung along the top of the existing fence. I don't cut their wings so that they'll have a better chance against predators - primarily coyotes. Our hens and ducks are completely safe at night, but range free during the day inside a 2.5 acre orchard or an adjacent pasture. Both are fenced, but I've seen coyotes pacing the fence next to the tree line even during the afternoon. They're obviously drawn by the chickens and ducks we keep. Coyotes are pretty fast movers when they need to be, and seem to instinctively know when I'm running for a rifle. I can't begin to count the number of times that I've had to pull sentry duty around the farm late at night when we've heard the pack howling outside. And if they weren't enough, I regularly find possum and raccoon tracks inside the orchard. They can't seem to figure out how to get into the run yet, but couldn't get into the coop even if they did. They do, however, snatch the occasional duck egg that I'm slow at gathering.

What is so interesting about all of these ISA Brown hens' behavioral quirks is how different they are from all the other breeds I've had in the past. They remind me of a mean rooster my grandfather used to have on his farm when I was a boy. I recall that one became Sunday dinner as a result. These are lucky that their eggs are so good, or we'd be grilling ISA Brown this weekend!
 

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