4 month old becoming aggressive...

[MarieNC]

Hello all. I have 6 four month old girls and have had them since they were two days old. They have always been friendly and like to be petted and held (for the most part). I usually sit in the run with them on a little stool and rub their chests as they come up to me and sometimes pick them up if they seem interested. Today when I went to rub her chest, one of my girls actually bit my hand really hard, grabbing skin in her beak. I nudged her away and she came back at me again and bit me. I ended up picking her up on my lap, which I have always done. And she went into this weird posture that I've never seen any of them do before - she kinda spread out her wings a bit and pushed her rump way up in the air, kinda like a cat in heat. She has always been the brave one, and if she didn't have the classic feather pattern of a female black sex linked bird, I would swear she was a rooster in the making. Her comb is so much bigger than her sibling. I've attached a picture of them side by side. It's a little fuzzy but you can tell the difference between the two. So what can I do about this aggressive behavior before it gets out of hand? The rest of them are as sweet as can be.

 

[Smoky73]

well for one, I think that you meant 4 month old, as those birds are definetely older than 4 weeks.

Also, if that is her sibling, is it supposed to be the same breed or just sibling because they were raised together?? Because one has brown and one does not look to from the pic and I swear that it would be a rooster. BUT, if its spereading wings and squatting, its getting ready to lay so getting ready to be bred. If you do not have a rooster, she is likely the dominant hen and can take the place of the rooster with agressive ness. I have a RIR who bites all the time too. Keep holding "it" and get it used to being handled. Its likely curious but maybe you smelled like something good that day.

 

[gritsar]

I'd like to see a clearer picture, cuz that sure looks like a rooster to me.

 

[Karrie13]

I have 4 black sex links too and when mine were that age I was ready to put them in the soup pot, they were not very nice ladies. The gold sex links were much better behaved. I never put them in the soup pot though I did threaten them with it a lot! It is now a year later and they are very good girls, I think it was just a phase. I hope your girl straightens out too.

The sticking her rump and spreading out of the wings is what a hen does for a rooster... she was ready for you to "mate" her. That means if you aren't getting eggs from her yet, you will soon!

 

[BantamoftheOpera]

My black sex link is six weeks and is also the one who likes to bite out of the bunch. She is the only one that hurts when she pecks. She also gets very jealous of the other birds. It's probably a breed thing.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

PES (pre-egg syndrome)

 

[MarieNC]

Quote:
Thanks for that catch - I have edited it.

 

[MarieNC]

Thank you all for the input. I used to have a lovebird, and when she was ready to lay eggs she would get into that posture and last night I started wondering if Dora was doing the same thing. It's kinda startling when a big bird is doing it while sitting in your lap! But even though she bites me, maybe she likes me enough to want to mate! Hehe... I hope her biting is a breed thing that will pass with time. The other black sex linked bird is very docile and much less developed. The picture doesn't do it justice but she has the same brown feather pattern on her chest that Dora does.