chicken pecking my feet !!

[Emanuela]

LoL....cheers ummm crocks cover your toes there are a few holes on top, funny enough they don't peck at those wholes but they do peck at the back of the shoe and the sides, so far they have not pecked at me through those holes. thanks for you help

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Chickens explore and learn about their world by pecking at everything in it.
Just because you aren't wearing toe nail polish is no guarantee that they won't show interest in your feet or shoes.
The next time you have day old peeps try this. Before giving your baby chicks their first food, spread one page of news print in their brooder. The little devils will soon be trying to eat the letters of the alphabet right off the news paper. If chicks didn't have an inborn peck response they could never find or learn how to eat their first meal, especially if they were hatched in an incubator.

 

[Emanuela]

wow ... thanks I didn't know that, I will have to try that....

 

[TooSlow4U]

Out of our 10 hens, we have one in particular that will peck quickly at my feet when I first walk into the pen. Soon after, she'll start circling my ankles (much like a cat just before you feed it) and she'll keep doing it until I pick her up and pet her. She's also the one that when they all get to come out of the pen for an hour or so to free range in the sunshine on nice days, she'll follow me around the yard and even into the garage to hang out and watch me work on stuff. All of our birds were hatched this last spring. They all have their own personalities, but so far, she's the only one that likes to cuddle up the most. Silly bird thinks she's a dog or something! ;-)

Also, call me crazy, but I could swear that chickens that get extra attention & lovin' lay bigger and better eggs. When we had just 4 hens, we would get 3~4 eggs every day and you could always count on at least 3~4 double yolk eggs every week too. Has anyone here ever experienced a triple yolk egg from your flock??

 

[azygous]

Never had a triple! That would be exciting, all right!

Back to chickens pecking feet. Or backs of legs, or your back if you're squatting down. Pecking is their favorite means of communication. Often, a chicken who has bonded with her human care giver will peck to signal she wants your attention.

Almost always when my chickens do that, it means they want individual attention. These are hens who will hop into my lap when I sit down.

So pecking the feet isn't always a sign of aggression. It's more like a child tugging on your pants leg to let you know she's ready to be picked up.

 

[huntergirl25]

on of my hens does the same thing she will bite my legs and shoes and also chase me she never hurts anyone but it is annoying im not sure how to stop it......

 

[Terry S]

I pet them when they peck. They don't like being pet

 

[Peeps61]

HI! How old are the hens? I found that once mine started to lay, they got much friendlier, and were always underfoot, although not pecking at me. I did have to peck a few back when they bit at me for trying to get their eggs (while they were still on the nest) and they learned either to stand up and let me get the eggs, or to move away or let me reach under them with no problems. I think if you keep insisting that they move back and stop the pecking, they will eventually settle down and let you alone.

 

[RissyMcD]

I have a chicken who did this. I thought responding aggressively would only make her worse (like it does with dogs and cats) so I'd been trying to ignore it and sometimes I put her in the "time out" fenced area of the yard. But she kept doing it again. I finally found that establishing yourself as above her in the pecking order is what worked. Like some of the others said.... a firm, but not harmful indication that you are serious. If she's trying a dominance thing and you don't react to prove you are dominate, she'll think she's won and will continue to do it. After my gentle methods didn't work, one time she got me pretty hard (I was wearing flipflops), and my knee-jerk reaction was to kick her back from me. Not a really hard kick, but enough to put her back a couple feet. Oddly enough, she didn't bother me again for the rest of the evening as I worked in and around the coop. She still followed me around like she usually does but didn't peck my feet again.

 

[THLG]

There’s the combo territorial and pecking-order thing they do – like the little punk on the playground trying to ACT tough.

They won’t come directly at me, but when I turn my back or walk perpendicular they lunge, or puff up and mock-chase like, “yeah, you better run booooy!” Until I stop, and then all the sudden it’s just, “What? Wha… I was just window-shopping… IS THAT A LEAF?? VERY INTERESTING!! (Cluck-cluck, pick-peck, scritch-scratch…) Then, when I proceed, well, they get all brave again. It’s pretty funny! Stupid, because I'm the source of all food and water, but still funny.


However, even when they are just hanging around me because I’m large and in charge, they know me, are comforted by my voice (they grew up in a box in my living room and feel safe near me. They are still FACINATED by my Docksiders -- especially if I move them (in any way). I think it’s partly the motion.

Sometimes I think they are interested in the leather shoelaces, thinking they are worms. The same way they get all cocky whenever ANYTHIING moves – a bug, a twig, a leaf, a blade of grass in the wind… my finger if I wiggle it, etc.

Sometimes I think they don’t even realize my feet are actually part of ME. They just look at them as something smaller than themselves, and think, “OH, I can take’em! Now, THOSE I can bully… what ever they are??”

Did anyone ever explain that chickens are all dumb and stuff?! LOL ;o)

I’m new at this two, but I think the trick is being more consistent and persistent than they are
– like training cats! )