Chick ate earring

[Folly's place]

Dogs too! Cat, not so much. And horses and cattle? I can talk about their behaviors too.
Mary

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

One of our five week old Amercaunas ate my stud earring today. She pulled it out really quickly before I had time to stop her and she ate it. We have 12 chicks and they mob us when we're in the coop, hanging out on our shoulders, backs, and on our heads. It's generally cute, but I'm worried that the chick is going to get sick. I know this is a really weird question, but has this ever happened to anyone here? Thanks for any advice on what to do!

Had the same thing happen to me... expect with a turkey. Never got that earring back... XD

 

[humblehillsfarm]

@Sahraschweiss : Thank you so much!!!! I didn't know this was so common or I would have searched the forum more carefully LOL. One of them pecked my daughter pretty hard in the eye the other day, so I think we need to start going into the coop in PPE

Being blinded by a chicken is a very real risk. Be careful with chickens around your face. A guy I worked with was blind in one eye due to a chicken peck!

 

[Folly's place]

Loosing an eyeball is a real risk, and having adult hens jumping all over you won't be fun at all. It's really not cute...
Mary

 

[feather13]

IMO, it's wise to keep chickens off your shoulders.

For birds the dominant bird in the flock perches the highest so if the chicken is on your shoulder and it's eyes are above your eye level it believes that it's dominant bird -- at which point you can expect it to attempt to peck and discipline you so that you'll submit.

My experience in this is with parrots, but dominance behavior in chickens seems pretty similar.

That's really interesting. We've never had chickens that behaved like this (these are chicks we got in the mail rather than a local hatchery... I have no idea if that means anything in terms of chick behavior). Our other birds have always been a mix of friendly and aloof hens and roosters, but none of the chicks we've ever had have been so eager to climb all over us and peck at everything (although we've also had a very sweet shoulder-perching bantam OEG that never pecked).

 

[Ruthster55]

I do NOT let chickens fly up to shoulders or head.

I have some young cockerels and pullets in rabbit hutches at the moment for lack of coops/pending breeding decisions. When I feed the young ones in the rabbit hutches, I assert my dominance by sort of pushing them around. One small group is great and they are pretty shy. They scatter to the back of the hutch when I open the door.,

However, I really need to push around some hatchery Barred Rocks, and will need to wear my big-frame glasses soon!

P.S. When I feed/water the chickens, usually I’m wearing old boots or old shoes with old jeans. No jewelry, although I like my stainless steel “shiny things.”

I only put earrings in for when I will meet someone or go to town.

Beware of Barred Magpies!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't allow the chickens on my shoulders, back or head. Forearm is ok if I invite them up. I do wear earrings into the run but since the birds are not anywhere near my head it's not an issue - at most they'll pick at my nail polish (like this week I put on a shade of green similar to the leaves near the run, so the chicks were very confused by it).

 

[esme13]

Also be careful with rings! Mine poked my diamond out of my ring and I could never find it in the grass or perhaps in the chickens belly. They love shiny things.

 

[RainbowHen]

I'm going right out to show this post to Donna and see if we can get some decorum around here! I miss wearing shiny things.

However, she's always invited into my personal space. Just how we roll.

I just have to say that I love your user name and profile pic. So cute!

 

[HiEverybirdy]

I just have to say that I love your user name and profile pic. So cute!

Aw, thank you @RainbowHen! Really appreciate the warm-fuzzies.