Help- My Girls Are Aggressive!

[StarMeKritten]

One is definitely lunging to peck at me.  She used to be my sweet baby and loved to cuddle.  When I bring treats out to them every day like spinach and kale, she's always comes running and she takes the food out of my hand when offered.  But lately when I don't have food, she postures and lunges at me.  At first I thought she was thinking I had food in my hand but it's a different sort of behavior.  The other one is more skiddish.  We've raised them from chicks so I assumed they'd always be fairly tame with us.  They are now 14 weeks. old.  Do they have a teenage rebel stage?  I don't know if this all started when we upset the balance by removing the cockerel we thought was a girl.

I do have a 6ft privacy fence. 

I like the idea of separating the older girls for a bit to allow the young one to explore and adjust to the coop and run.

I also wanted to add that I had one chick that went kinda mean in the 2-4 month old range. She would just run up and start pecking me, hard. I kept her only because she was the first chick I ever hatched and because she was the ONLY female from that hatch. I swore I would get rid of her sooner or later. She mellowed out when she started laying. Now, she's 7 months old and the very nicest of all my chickens. My only problem with her now is that she wants to walk between my feet while I'm in the yard. It's hard not to trip over her!

 

[austintxchick]

I believe they go through a rebel stage. Mine all turned on me for a while around that age. After a few weeks they all settled and for the most part are all very friendly with me. None lung at me just are a little timid. Although when I chicken juggle sometimes at night (trying to get my scared girls higher) my leghorns peck at me and the chicken I"m holding. I consider them my white tornadoes but usually they are decent.

Wait until they mature a little more and I bet things will settle down

Good to know. I already have one human teenager, now I have 3 chicken teenagers. Joy. LOL

 

[austintxchick]

I like the idea of separating the older girls for a bit to allow the young one to explore and adjust to the coop and run.

I also wanted to add that I had one chick that went kinda mean in the 2-4 month old range. She would just run up and start pecking me, hard. I kept her only because she was the first chick I ever hatched and because she was the ONLY female from that hatch. I swore I would get rid of her sooner or later. She mellowed out when she started laying. Now, she's 7 months old and the very nicest of all my chickens. My only problem with her now is that she wants to walk between my feet while I'm in the yard. It's hard not to trip over her!

Phew! She used to be the sweetest one! Maybe she'll settle back into that when her hormones settle down.

 

[wchepooh]

I'm still a very new chicken mommy, but when I added a 4wk old baby with my 9 other girls of different ages, they were all mean to her. So, I brought her outside 2 or 3 times a day and sat there with her for 2hrs. Yep about 6 hours of my day was spent out there. For 12 days! She would venture off a little bit, then someone would peck her and she'd run to me. I didn't let anyone hurt her and they learned what my finger pointing or poking meant. Finally on the last day, she stopped running to me. She didn't want to come back in. But she was still alone and not hanging w all the girls. I was worried. Now, she's one of them! She snuggles with some of them too. I guess what I'm trying to say, long story short, lol, is don't give up. And yes, they need more space outside. Good luck.

 

[austintxchick]

I'm still a very new chicken mommy, but when I added a 4wk old baby with my 9 other girls of different ages, they were all mean to her. So, I brought her outside 2 or 3 times a day and sat there with her for 2hrs. Yep about 6 hours of my day was spent out there. For 12 days! She would venture off a little bit, then someone would peck her and she'd run to me. I didn't let anyone hurt her and they learned what my finger pointing or poking meant. Finally on the last day, she stopped running to me. She didn't want to come back in. But she was still alone and not hanging w all the girls. I was worried. Now, she's one of them! She snuggles with some of them too. I guess what I'm trying to say, long story short, lol, is don't give up. And yes, they need more space outside. Good luck.

Aww, you're a good chicken mommy. I had to chuckle at her running to you and the finger pointing. I'm glad to see she is one of the flock now!

 

[austintxchick]

Yay! I got over my fear and let the girls in the yard to free range. Well I should say my teenage daughter pushed me into it. She's braver than I. We did clip all of their wings but many of you were right, they didn't even try to fly over the fence. In fact, they weren't so bitchy and territorial. The two older ones stuck together and the new kid played at the side of the yard. They pretty much stayed away from her and didn't try to chase and peck her. I was shocked. You could tell they saw each other but both the two older ones and the new girl pretty much ignored each other. So, I plan to spend a few hours a day letting them out to free range and see if they will get used to having her around this way.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Yay! I got over my fear and let the girls in the yard to free range. Well I should say my teenage daughter pushed me into it. She's braver than I. We did clip all of their wings but many of you were right, they didn't even try to fly over the fence. In fact, they weren't so bitchy and territorial. The two older ones stuck together and the new kid played at the side of the yard. They pretty much stayed away from her and didn't try to chase and peck her. I was shocked. You could tell they saw each other but both the two older ones and the new girl pretty much ignored each other. So, I plan to spend a few hours a day letting them out to free range and see if they will get used to having her around this way.

This is a great approach. The more of something there is (food, space, etc) the less they have to try to control/guard it - and being in a new environment is also a distraction so they aren't so focused on the other birds as much as their own exploring of the open area.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Glad to hear it! Yay for progress!

 

[wchepooh]

Yay! Happy to hear!

 

[austintxchick]

Repeated it again yesterday. They got a little closer to each other this time. There was some posturing from the older girls and one peck when they got too close to each other but for the most part, they didn't act like they even saw each other. Even more curious, the older girls came over to my daughter and I and just kind of hung out with us. Interesting.