Chicken turned full on CUJO! Biting!

[FrostRanger]

I'm not afraid of her, and I hold my own.

She will not be bred for sure.

I did notice her starting to chase my English Setter just before I left. We thought it was kind of funny, as my dog is a bird dog, but was taught the moment the chicks arrived, that they were "no bird" and "leave it's." My dogs walk with my hens when we go looking for bugs and forage. But, just recently Rocky has chased the bird dog away from her finds. Now I'm rethinking funny. Hmmm?

Edit: reread and saw she was the one doing the chasing. Seems it was a precursor to her going after you

 

[JoD2Tall]

So it sounds like you don't have a rooster?

She's definitely a hen, she lays eggs almost daily. I know it's her eggs, because I get 5 different colored eggs. Pretty easy to keep track of with 5 different hens.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

She's definitely a hen, she lays eggs almost daily. I know it's her eggs, because I get 5 different colored eggs. Pretty easy to keep track of with 5 different hens.

Sorry, no. What I meant was that perhaps she is taking on the role of a rooster in the absence of one. It's not unusual for a hen to step up into that position, even to the point of crowing and mounting the other hens, even though she continues to lay eggs. I have not seen anyone say their head hen had become aggressive like a nasty rooster, but perhaps that's what's going on here. Pay attention to when/where the aggression happens. Is she "protecting" the other hens, the way a rooster would? Does she not want you near them, or not want you to pick them up? Knowing this may or may not give you ways to protect yourself or know how to deal with it, but it's a start. Good luck and please keep us posted so others may learn from your experience.