My hen attacked me WHY??????????????/

[galanie]

If you make 10 posts then you can post a picture. Even just replying to this one will work. Any posts. Just don't break the rules heh.

 

[Jackie Paige]

Thanks so much for all the help... I will take some pics and post them... Went out yesterday and everything seem to be okay but now I'm scared of them.... I'm VERY disappointed ... had wanted chickens for a long time and finally convinced my husband.. Hopefully I will get over the scared thing... They are ALL suppose to be girls but who knows???????

I don't know what breed they are because my husband got them for me as a gift and didn't remember what kind they are. The one that attacked me is white with few black feathers off her/his tail...I know I must sound like a idiot to all the folks but VERY new at the chicken business...haha:yiipchick

 

[theCandEs]

Had one of my baby hens bite me a few weeks ago. She's a sweetheart really, though. Not sure why she did that. Anyway, the baby roo is getting to be a really big pain in the butt. Not sure what to do about him. If it's a roo you have, he will probably have a bigger comb and start acting more aggressive as he gets older.

 

[JerseyFresh]

Quote:
It's not like every single one of us were exactly where you are at some point...

 

[TwoCrows]

I am fairly new to chickens myself, although I have raised quail for years and also keep indoor parrots. And after just this year getting into chickens and brooding them from babies, I have learned something about the behaviors of birds that I had suspicions about all these years.

I spend a TON of time with my chickens as I also do with the quail and my parrots. And I have come to believe that when you are constantly interacting with your birds, they begin to associate you as one of them. So you come to be somewhere in the pecking order. And because you are all full of love, treats and sweetness, you can be "controlled" in the pecking orderas the lowest of meek chickens might be. I have seen this with my indoor parrots, my quail and my new babies.

I have 4 Black Australorp babies, 21 weeks old now, whom I adore. They are all girls and there is no rooster around. The highest in the pecking order, Pearl has attacked me on several occasions when I get too close to her eating, scratching in the dirt or where ever she might want to run off a lower ranking bird. And I thought Australorps were supposed to be sweet!! Well they are. But when they consider you one of them, then you are going to fall somewhere in this ranking.

The high ranking Australorp, Pearl, would bite me hard. So what I had to do was watch exactly how she controlled the rest of the others and used it on her. When she bit me, I would peck her with my finger on the top of her head, just as she does to others and this means that I am above her. This took quite a few weeks to sink into her head and occasionally she still forgets and bites me. But it does work. You have to gain control and let them know you are the leader. If you do exactly as they do to each other to the biting bird, they will get the idea.

As for my quail, some of my male roosters were the most sweetest of boys. They loved to eat out of my hand and even be handled, unlike some of the females. These ones that I got really close to, ended up attacking me now. Even some of my indoor parrots have had to be shown who is the higher ranking bird in the house.

So long story short, it does not always mean it is a rooster doing the attacking, especially if there is no rooster around. The hens can take this place of top bird and you have to assert yourself accordingly. Good luck!

 

[ChicKat]

Hope your problem is solved and you have determined the gender of the attacker..... sorry you got scratched.

My hen is funny, she will peck my shoe and sometimes the legs of my jeans...but it is more like she is 'knocking' on a door to get attention or treats....
"Here I am ----where are my treats??" "Hurry up, I want them NOWWWWW!".

It won't be fun if you have concerns about getting hurt by your chickens....one thing to do too---is always have them eating something that absorbs their attention, and pulls them away from you when you are around them.

good luck.

 

[AuntieE]

It does sound like maybe a roo- but pics would definitely be helpful.

I have all hens now, and the only time they every 'attacked' me was when I had red sandals on. They went crazy going after the red straps- no blood drawn, but I must've looked ridiculous hopping around fending off the girls. Needless to say, I'm very careful to not wear red when I go out to visit them now.

 

[Jackie Paige]

WELL... it happened again... Went to let the babies out and turned around and she was all puffed up and coming at me... Had a fly swatter with me so wacked her and at first she just kept coming at me had to swat her a couple of times before she figured out that I was the bigger chicken... Still makes me crazy... Just don't understand how she could do this to me.... HER CHICKEN MAMA...

Still can't post pics hopefully soon...

 

[newchick13]

I hope I don't run into this problem! I too am new to this chicken thing and have spent lots of time holding and socializing with my little ones. Supposedly they are all girls but you never really know...Three of my 13 allow me to hold and pet them for a long time which is really sweet. I hope they don't start seeing me as a chicken lower on the totem pole! I am not sure of the breeds that I have either so I have no way of knowing what to expect personality wise. They all are brown layers with the exception of 3 EE. I guess once they are older I will be able to tell by looking them.

 

[diggergal]

I have seventeen 18 week old pullets. When they were about 5 weeks old I moved them from the brooder to the coop. I always wore my bright pink rubber boots.

I would walk through the wet cut grass on the way to the coop and they loved to peck it off my boots. When they were going through their "teenage" stage they were very skittish and when I have my boots on I could get them to come to me.

Now they still peck my boots if I have them on-even if there is no grass stuck to them. I notice if I wear other shoes or boots they normally don't peck at me.....Until the other day....I had let them out for a short time to free range. I was sitting in a lawn chair keeping an eye on them when one of my buff orpingtons came rushing towards me with her neck feathers ruffled like she was going to attack me sitting in my chair. What a surprise! I instictively yelled stop it! She backed away. Not sure what brought that on but now I keep a close eye on their behaviour. I am not that experienced but I do believe she was just setting a pecking order. I walk through their run all the time with no problems, so I was surprised. As long as I can keep her under control with a firm word or swat she can stay but if she gets worse she is going to lose her cushy little home at our farm.