XanderWiFi
Songster
The other day, Mohawk, our brabanter that is our gentlest, friendliest and most docile girl apparently attacked my 7 year old son when he let them out the other morning. This completely baffled me as she allows our 2 year old and just about anyone else to pick her up and follows me around as my pen buddy as I do chores. The most aggressive thing she has done to me is peck my eye when atop my shoulder and that didn't even leave a visible mark immediately or after.
Getting the story secondhand and not witnessing the event: my son apparently let them out wearing flip flops and she pecked his toe then proceeded to chase him out attacking his legs. When pushing for further details it turns out she pecked his toe, he THEN thought it was a good idea to toss a couple twigs from the run at her, and then she chased him out. Mohawk apparently gives zero effs when getting messed with lol. I had to set up an experiment to see for myself.
To test the behavior of the bird, get my now scared son to overcome his fears, and overall just see how they interacted I instructed him to go out and pick mohawk up and give her some pets to make friends. Show her he is not just a bully. Tentatively, he entered the run. The girls basically ignore or mob depending on if they think food is in hand. This time it was ignore. He crept up to her. Frankly, I'm surprised she did not run or attack because his scared creeping up appeared more akin to stalking. He bent down, picked her up, pet pet pet, put down all good. "Must've been a freak incident" I thought to myself. He then proceeded to stick his hand down and do a little "shoo shoo" motion about 8 inches from her head and turned to walk away. IT WAS ON! Mohawk crossed the five feet he had walked away and rooster scratched/pecked the back of his leg once and left him alone. My son was sad. Clearly, Mohawk will not tolerate insolent children haha. Pure educational moment to teach the kid to respect the animals, not be intimidated by them, but don't give them a reason to become aggressive.
Me and mohawk remain best buds. She gets the prime pickings of snacks and knows to hit me up after the bulk has been dropped to get an exclusive treat. Overall, I have been surprised by increasing aggression within the flock surrounding food. My best assumption is as the 6 new girls assimilate it is disrupting the pecking order requiring order to be put down to those who were already assimilated and aware of the order. I heard a squawk and watcher my EE almost sumo pin our other brabanter Storm, and watched Storm's neck get a pinch and rip from Blue Leg one of the leghorns (also an adept japanese beetle hunter).
Any other theories for behavior I may be missing? Open to all ideas. If not, enjoy the story of young children learning important lessons of animal care and respect
Getting the story secondhand and not witnessing the event: my son apparently let them out wearing flip flops and she pecked his toe then proceeded to chase him out attacking his legs. When pushing for further details it turns out she pecked his toe, he THEN thought it was a good idea to toss a couple twigs from the run at her, and then she chased him out. Mohawk apparently gives zero effs when getting messed with lol. I had to set up an experiment to see for myself.
To test the behavior of the bird, get my now scared son to overcome his fears, and overall just see how they interacted I instructed him to go out and pick mohawk up and give her some pets to make friends. Show her he is not just a bully. Tentatively, he entered the run. The girls basically ignore or mob depending on if they think food is in hand. This time it was ignore. He crept up to her. Frankly, I'm surprised she did not run or attack because his scared creeping up appeared more akin to stalking. He bent down, picked her up, pet pet pet, put down all good. "Must've been a freak incident" I thought to myself. He then proceeded to stick his hand down and do a little "shoo shoo" motion about 8 inches from her head and turned to walk away. IT WAS ON! Mohawk crossed the five feet he had walked away and rooster scratched/pecked the back of his leg once and left him alone. My son was sad. Clearly, Mohawk will not tolerate insolent children haha. Pure educational moment to teach the kid to respect the animals, not be intimidated by them, but don't give them a reason to become aggressive.
Me and mohawk remain best buds. She gets the prime pickings of snacks and knows to hit me up after the bulk has been dropped to get an exclusive treat. Overall, I have been surprised by increasing aggression within the flock surrounding food. My best assumption is as the 6 new girls assimilate it is disrupting the pecking order requiring order to be put down to those who were already assimilated and aware of the order. I heard a squawk and watcher my EE almost sumo pin our other brabanter Storm, and watched Storm's neck get a pinch and rip from Blue Leg one of the leghorns (also an adept japanese beetle hunter).
Any other theories for behavior I may be missing? Open to all ideas. If not, enjoy the story of young children learning important lessons of animal care and respect
YOur chickens might be chasing toes around thinking they are treats.
