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.

 

[JoD2Tall]

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.

No worries, I figured I confused you with the rooster reference. As of today we have progress. What you said earlier makes sense if that is what she is doing. Yesterday, I went in, fed them like normal, she acted normal, but I did not pick any of them up. I walked around the run, went into the coop, collected the eggs, and they all followed like normal, including Rocky. I hung out a little, opened the door for our daily walk, and she was acting normal. The only difference, I didn't handle any, or crouch down to pet them like normal. And, it was when I was crouched down giving each a little pet that she came after my hands, then me. I have often let them get treats from my hands, typically no biting issues there. So, maybe she has matured to thinking she needs to protect them??? From petting? I don't know.Same with today, no petting or crouching.
So, the good news, is I don't think culling is in the near future. But, I'm not about to stop interacting with the others, and her, if she's not eyeing me. Otherwise, no personal attention for her. Which hurts my heart, as I've coddled all of them, but not at the price of velociraptor attacks.
Thank you for your input and insight. They all look healthy, fluffy, clear eyed and so on. She may just be a super freak with a beak. Sorry, It's my sense of humor. As long as she doesn't hurt the other girls.

I'll keep all updated if anything changes.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh wow! Well, humm. I'm glad my "insight" (read, "wild guesses") have proved helpful! So, building on this, here's what I would advise. Continue to treat her as if she is the flock master. Offer treats first to her and let her call the flock over to the treats. I think you were wise to do all you did, at least it kept you from getting hurt! So ... if you need to handle "the girls" like to worm or examine, etc., I'd advise you to do it at night in the dark. Get a headlamp with a red light option to leave your hands free. Mine cost about $15 at AMZN. If you need to handle them during the day, separate her first so you can handle them safely, just as you would if you had a difficult cockerel. And remember, she really can hurt you, just as a cockerel or rooster can.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

From what you said in your last post, yeah, it sounds like she is taking ownership of the other hens the way a male bird would. You feeding and petting them, she sees as mating behaviors. You touching their backs especially. You picking them up is really serious, that's what a predator would do. So she has to protect them from you in the only way she can - by a full- on attack.