chicken pecking me

[ams3651]

One of my EE's pecks me if I get close her, how do i stop this. Im thinking I should pick her up and hold her but, geesh...it hurts. Shes the only one who does it and she gives me the stink eye I swear. What should I do. Shes not pecking me like shes attracted to something, its the leave me alone kind.

 

[Gindee77]

I have an EE that does that too. I just keep going at her with the back of my hand on her breast and down between her legs...I'm trying to get her used to my hand so I can get eggs out from under her if/when she starts to lay. She really nails me tho and it does hurt! I just grin and bear it and keep working with her. I hope she gets over it.

 

[Beekissed]

A good cuff around the head works for my EE....she sure is a nasty!

If I have one that is trying to go broody, and she pecks me if I try to get her off the nest, then I put on some gloves and yank her off anyway. I don't allow any malcontent behavior in the henhouse....

 

[muddler6]

They look at you as one of the flock and you have to "earn" you way to the top of the pecking order, sorta. I did the same as the above with mine, you don't have to smack them hard, just a swat and be direct and go about your business, and if you can pick her up go for it, that helps with the "so, who's the boss around here" issue.

 

[cthrash1]

When mine was doing this I took the advice from another BYCer and grabbed him/her by the legs, held it upside down til it calmed down then flipped it back upright and held, petted and carried it around for a while. Took about 3 days of this every time I was pecked. Now it begs and follows me around like the rest of them. But no more pecks!
This is a couple of pics of when it was still pecking at me:
1. Planning the angle of attack

2. Going in for the kill(I moved my hand just in time)

 

[Emzyyy]

LOL reminds me on Juno how u said stinkeye.
"No thats just how her face is."

 

[ams3651]

i did swat her a little when she did it but I didnt know if that would work. I'll have to get a good pair of gloves and hold her. thanks

 

[AllChookUp]

ams3651 - I know you're dealing with hen behavior, but Rooster-Red has a great article on how to deal with rooster behavior that may help you with some insights. Here's a link:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2588-Roo_behavior

I think this is what cthrash1 was referring to.

 

[Beekissed]

You have to come at them, no backing away. I know its instinct to back away from the potential pain but you have to back them down. Make them fear your moves, not the other way around. Now, when I have to remove the EE from the nest, she just ducks down. She knows that the pecking doesn't work with me. When I approach her on the roost, she kind of squats....before, she would go for the "peck" first. Broke the rooster the same way...no backing down from a fight here.

I have some very sweet hens that follow me and eat out of my hand and, then, there are the nasty ones. I guess its just like people....you can try, but some folks just aren't going to be your friends!

 

[blueskylen]

my biggest bo would peck at me when i tried to pet her, if i moved my hand too fast toward her. i started to just put my hand down a couple of feet in front of her first then moved it slowly toward her. if she did peck at me anyway, I would quickly smack her beek lightly and hold my finger up at her eye level. this let her know who was boss, but not enough to make her run away. a couple of times of this and she no longer is trying to peck at me as long as i go slowly.