Aggressive hen

[Sussex7]

Hi all,

We have 7 lovely hens who are just about to turn 1 year old. They have been very tame, friendly chickens since we bought them as 1 day old chicks but in the past month 1 of the hens has become very aggressive towards us. She is biting mostly our hands--and drawing blood--but will also aggressively go after our pants and shoelaces, grabbing on and flapping her wings angrily.
I have read some suggestions to use our hands as a beak to peck her head or back after she bites but when I do this she just tries to bite me as I lower my hand. I have not seen her go after any of the other hens. We do tend to feed them by hand, which may be part of the problem as I've read. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thx!

 

[famerzellman]

I’ve had the same issue! I’ve found that the aggressive hen was on the bottom of the pecking order so she tried to show that she was “top hen to me” what I did was when she would come to attack my foot or leg I would either pick her up (which freaked her out) or I would hold her down for a few seconds if she came back to attack I repeated the process until she quit. We did this for a week it curbbed her behavior. My suggestion is if she doesn’t get better I would get rid of her especially if you want to add new babies to the flock eventually.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Welcome to BYC! Maybe post this under chicken behaviors would help you get more answers.
Hope you enjoy your time here, lots of knowledgeable folks to lend a hand!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Happy to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. I agree that posting on the forum mentioned above would be a good idea.

 

[drumstick diva]

Is there any chance she is not a hen but, is a cockerel. If so may be trying to keep you away from his hens.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Great suggestions from @famerzellman. If they don't work, and they should (it's all about subordinating her), I too would cull her.

 

[N F C]

I used to have a RSL that behaved like yours. I started picking her up and holding her until she quit squirming...she soon learned to quit with the pecking and became my 'lap chicken'. I hope you can change her behavior soon, it's not fun to deal with a bird that hurts you.

Best of luck to you!

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us