Chicken biting behavior questions

[JanieMarie]

It finally happened I got bit! Hard! Many many years of different breeds of chickens and many many pecks but this was a malicious bite! It was a BLRW cockerel 4 1/2 mos old and he's huge and he's beautiful. I'm thinking I want to keep this guy so I'm wondering if there is anyway of breaking this behavior or could it be some deficiency that he thinks could be made up in human flesh?

Interestingly I also have 2 month old BLRWs growing out from another breeder and these also have shown signs of wanting to bite - not just peck. Could this be a behaviour more common in certain breeds?

And is it possible to show a chicken known to bite? Maybe just hang a sign around its neck: Examine at your own risk!

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

 

[RendonRoo]

Hold him upside down by his feet and show him to the hens. This will establish dominance and he will be knocked down to #2 on the pecking order. It may take a couple of times for him to get the idea. I would advise wearing long sleeve shirt and gloves. Good Luck

 

[enola]

My cuckoo maran cockerels were biting me too. At first it was just a few little pecks, then the pecks became more forceful and more often. Then the graduated to mean, malicious, hold on and flop my hand biting ! ..........

I have them in a large cage, I have to hold the feed can, open the door to the cage, reach inside the door of the cage to put the feed in the feeder. I guess they think that this was the opportune time to show me who they think is boss.

Grabbing them to hold them upside down is not an option in this case........

But, grabbing their legs, holding them down on the floor of the cage is. Doing this just infuriates them ! They proceed to squawk like I am killing them and beating their wings while they try to flop all around. This excited the other cockerels in the pen and they immediately jumped on him, pecking, pulling feathers and flopping him. A little bit of peer pressure went a long way.

Just 2 times of grabbing the 'ring leader' and letting his cage mates give him 'what for' ended that crap !