Buff Brahma biting

[Bgerth89]

Our buff brahma Winnie, is 6 months and the last month or so she has been biting us. When she's laying or in the coop she bites. If you pick her up and she doesn't want to be held , she bites. Today my 12 year old picked her up and had her at eye level and she bit him just below the eye. She's usually fine with him holding her. She acts dominate over our Black Asian but doesn't bother our Leghorn. I'm confused as I read her breed is very docile and non-aggressive. She eats well, is vocal and is active. Really unsure what the issue is. Attached photos for whatever reason you may want to see her.

 

[aart]

Keep chicken beaks away from human faces!
It only takes a split second to lose an eye.

Does she walk up to you and bite, or just when you try to touch her?

If she is seeking humans out to bite, bite her back.
I am not a chicken cuddler, but have had this happen several times, mostly with hand fed chicks often as they come of age and get spunky. It's pretty easily curbed with calm and deliberate determination.

I peck them back, on the head or anywhere I can reach, with the tips of thumb and first 2 fingers, as hard and fast as many times as I can before they get away. Well, not hard enough to hurt them, just startle them and let them you mean business. That's what another chicken would do, so they understand that kind of communication.

If that doesn't work after a couple applications, I hold them down to the ground with my hand on their back until they submit....again firmly enough to get the job done but not hurt them....add a few finger pecks and/or tug on the feathers on the back of their neck.

 

[Bgerth89]

Keep chicken beaks away from human faces!
It only takes a split second to lose an eye.

Does she walk up to you and bite, or just when you try to touch her?

If she is seeking humans out to bite, bite her back.
I am not a chicken cuddler, but have had this happen several times, mostly with hand fed chicks often as they come of age and get spunky. It's pretty easily curbed with calm and deliberate determination.

I peck them back, on the head or anywhere I can reach, with the tips of thumb and first 2 fingers, as hard and fast as many times as I can before they get away. Well, not hard enough to hurt them, just startle them and let them you mean business. That's what another chicken would do, so they understand that kind of communication.

If that doesn't work after a couple applications, I hold them down to the ground with my hand on their back until they submit....again firmly enough to get the job done but not hurt them....add a few finger pecks and/or tug on the feathers on the back of their neck.

She has been super cuddly(you could rub your face on hers she was so sweet) up until recently, I'm assuming as she has matured and started laying. She goes after shoes sometimes or if you try to pick up the other chickens she wants to bite your feet sometimes. Maybe she feels like the flock leader these are our first chickens and we are learning as we go. I picked her up, away from my face after he did and she was fine so it must have just been that she didn't want to be held and his face was there. Maybe she's over being extra loved on. The other 2 chickens don't bite the way she does. The leghorn doesn't bite at all and the black Asian only if she wants you to put her down you'll get a peck on the hand.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

She has been super cuddly(you could rub your face on hers she was so sweet) up until recently, I'm assuming as she has matured and started laying. She goes after shoes sometimes or if you try to pick up the other chickens she wants to bite your feet sometimes. Maybe she feels like the flock leader these are our first chickens and we are learning as we go. I picked her up, away from my face after he did and she was fine so it must have just been that she didn't want to be held and his face was there. Maybe she's over being extra loved on. The other 2 chickens don't bite the way she does. The leghorn doesn't bite at all and the black Asian only if she wants you to put her down you'll get a peck on the hand.

Those are some beautiful girls you have there! We have a flock of 30+ and while all are happy to eat from my hand, none want to be picked up and only a few will consent to be petted. So, yours are very calm and tame next to mine! Aart has some good suggestions for specific things you can do to try to discourage the undesirable behaviors. I would definitely suggest supervising such young kids with the hens, and teaching your kids to keep their faces away from all pets. They may be old enough to teach them to start reading the body language of their pets and consider when the pets want affection and when they don’t. There are too many times that kids are trying to be friendly but upset some pet: dog, cat, chicken, and get an injury to the face or eye for their troubles. I’d say that you are doing a great job raising calm hens, so now you need to figure out how to get the hens and kids on the same page while keeping the kids safe. Best of luck with your lovely little flock!

 

[3KillerBs]

She has been super cuddly(you could rub your face on hers she was so sweet) up until recently, I'm assuming as she has matured and started laying.

I strongly suspect that she is the flock leader and is attempting to assert her dominance over you and your family -- assuming that y'all are just big, funny-looking chickens. It's very common for people to get in trouble with maturing cockerels this way after having cuddled them a lot as chicks.

@aart's advice to peck her back is sound. It's called "the pecking order" for a reason and the humans need to be at the top of it.

 

[aart]

She has been super cuddly(you could rub your face on hers she was so sweet)

Don't risk it.
They like to peck at shiny things, like an eyeball, and there is no predicting when it might happen.

 

[Bgerth89]

We will try the pecking her back with our fingers to try and stop the pecking. She is a sweet bird, just a little dominant. My son is now very aware not to pick her up to eye level and just simply lift her to under his arm.

 

[Bgerth89]

I strongly suspect that she is the flock leader and is attempting to assert her dominance over you and your family -- assuming that y'all are just big, funny-looking chickens. It's very common for people to get in trouble with maturing cockerels this way after having cuddled them a lot as chicks.

@aart's advice to peck her back is sound. It's called "the pecking order" for a reason and the humans need to be at the top of it.

It's funny, my son and I were looking at them out a slider and they were standing at the door watching us and we thought they were probably wondering why the humans were in a cage our Black Asian has facial expressions, the shape of her eyes change when she looks at you and you can tell she has thoughts when you talk to her or call her name we are having so much fun watching them grow and how they act(minus the biting)

 

[Folly's place]

@aart has it right here!
No bird gets near my face, ever. And this pullet is being rude, you do need to peck her back, fast and hard, until she runs. One of our pullets was very pushy last year, biting or trying to bite often, and it took multiple episodes of pecking back, or bumping her, to convince her to stop.
If she doesn't like cuddling, respect that too. Here we don't ever cuddle our birds, we have cats and dogs for that! If a bird needs to be picked up for a reason, that's fine, but few will think it's a good idea. If you do have pullets who volunteer to be held, that's fine, but never near your face!
Mary