Chickens suddenly attacking!!!

[Fancyfeetchick]

So recently one of my "chickens" (I am still not sure if male or female-about 16 weeks old now) has suddenly started to attack my feet/legs and biting my hands when I enter the fenced area we keep thier coop and run in. Prior to this, our sweet "girl" Goldie was always so docile and sweet. We haven't changed anything about how we handle them, so I'm not sure why she has changed. We have 4 chickens in total: 2 we know for sure are rooster (they are crowing and have been since the beginning of July) the other two we are not sure of the sex. Goldie is the only one who chases us and confronts us when we come into the gate. The others simply ignore us. Goldie will cluck constantly, and very loudly while she walks circles around us. When we reach down she goes right for our hands and bites the dickens out of us. She will really go after out feet, following us around the pin trying to bite us when we walk away to do something.
About a week ago, my husband said he saw one of the roosters chasing and biting her tail feathers one morning while they were in the run. When I go to shut them in at night (we let them "free range" when we get home in the fenced area) Goldie FREAKS out about being in the run with the other rooster my husband saw chasing her. She squawks and runs around even when he's not chasing her. Eventually she will run into the coop and quiet down. What could be happening to her that could be causing her such anxiety? I feel like she's biting us because she's some how afraid we are going to "bite" her like the others. Has anyone ever dealt with this before, or understand what I'm saying? Any advice on what to do would be helpful!
We are trying to figure out a way to keep her separate from the others during the day while in the coop, but we would have to build something on to the existing coop to make that happen.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Sara

 

[suki'smom]

Sounds like the roos are stressing her out. I would say get rid of the one harassing her.

 

[Volkova]

Hi there! I recommend you carry on observing her until you have found the source of the problem. Does she have her feathers plucked a bit? If so, I recommend you give her some anti-peck spray to stop the other chickens from bothering her. Perhaps she is attacked or bullied when you are not around, such as night time.

If it gets worse, take her away from the flock and spend some time with her doing little things like giving her snacks and petting her. Hopefully that will reacquaint her with you and then you can start to introduce back into the flock. While you are doing that, I suggest you keep an eye on the other birds, are they doing fine? It could be one docile chicken being bullied or it could be a nasty cockerel, so checking on them will help you determine the culprit.

Remember, you chickens are at a funny age where they start to act like hens and cockerels. They will make a pecking order and there may be a few scraps between each other now and then.

 

[off-grid hen]

Sounds like the roos are stressing her out. I would say get rid of the one harassing her.

I agree. However, it is possible that Goldie is a boy, and is being harassed by the other boys to be shown that he is low in the peck order. I would take several photos of each chicken you have, in good light. Of each chicken, take a front-on shot of the face, a side/profile shot, and a shot from above- looking down at the bird's back. Then put them on the "What Breed or Gender is This?" forum here at BYC. Are you sure about the sexes of these birds? Could you have all roosters? (uh-oh!)

If they are chasing one another that much, someone may get hurt soon. You may be correct that Goldie is a girl being picked on by 2 boys. If that's case, she needs plenty of room to escape the boys' attentions. Provide plenty of food dishes/troughs so that everyone can eat without fighting over food. Also provide lots of space for them to run away from one another. Lean a wide board up against the wall of the run so that they can hide from the others' view. If it's a hen, it's a nervous wreck. If it's a rooster, it sounds aggressive.

Good luck.

 

[theoldchick]

Can you post a photo of Goldie?