Crazy hen attacking me?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

When young hens are reaching sexual maturity their hormone begin to rage and they can be prone to erratic and sometimes aggressive behaviors especially if they are very friendly with humans. Those who are not human friendly tend to start bossing the other chickens around. It's like teenage hormones meets PMS, and most behaviors should be corrected but also forgiven. Most calm down after they start laying and go back to being nice hens.

Don't allow them to be forward with you and do things like get higher than you, or even on you. Knock them down or block their advances. Nothing too rough, just a reminder who's top bird. Also stop feeding out of hand, throw all treats on the ground, as allowing them to take food from you is a sign you are submissive. Your girls are growing up.

 

[Kahvi79]

Thanks for posting this. I'm having the same issue with my "Harmony" (ironically named, since she keeps attacking me). I have a flock of 5 hens: 2 barred rocks (which Harmony is; her possible sister is the "head hen", although my hubby calls me the HCIC--head chicken in charge). and 3 Ameraucanas. They were all born in April and all laying except one Ameraucana. Several weeks to a month ago, Harmony started pecking my toes; she's drawn blood. I attributed it to the pink nail polish. Now, no polish and she chases me, trying to attack. Last weekend, she grabbed the back of my ankle. I'm lucky that the attacks are always foot level, but it was frustrating "fighting" with my chicken! I'd hold her and pet her, hoping to calm. I'll take the advise mentioned above, but apparently a crazy hen is more common than you'd think

 

[Folly's place]

I AM THE QUEEN! That's how I interact with my chickens, horses, and dogs. Nobody gets to be a jerk; they usually don't try, but I always remember who's feeding whom. This doesn't mean that I'm ugly to them, but in the pecking order, I'd better be on top. With horses and cattle, it's easy to get killed if 'Sweety' doesn't respect your space, and with chickens, some nasty wounds can happen. Getting back to chickens; I've had some nasty idiot cockerels, and they didn't last long. I've never had a non broody hen try to hurt me, but Then again, I'm always the queen. Mary

 

[ChikkiDoodleRoo]

I know this is a bit older of a thread, but I want to leave this here for anyone coming across this on Google like I did because I see a lot of old ways of doing things and thinking when it comes to this topic. You usually see the typical reply "this isn't normal and you should eat her before it gets worse".....first off, this is a LOT more common than you think, second, it is not necessarily because she wants to "dominate" you and yes, it IS normal. I have a silkie hen (the calmest and most docile of the bird breeds) that did this at about a year old....while she was doing this, she was also (sometimes minutes before even) squatting and presenting me with her backside like she would a rooster.....so I was clearly dominant to her so this was obviously not her trying to dominate me as just minutes before she was presenting to me and squatting. The attacking as a couple of other people have mentioned is many times due to hormonal reasons (as with my growing girl) and territorial reasons.

People seem to forget these are animals and a coop is THEIR territory, its where they live, eat, mingle, hell....even raise their young....so yes, the more protective hens can become aggressive/territorial over their coop (there are many fixes to this that don't involve eating your pet chicken every time it exhibits chicken behavior.....). For other hens its due to hormones.....such as in the case of my girl. I will write a dedicated post on how to deal with territorial aggression later, but for hormonal aggression, just simply pick her up and then pin her on the ground (VERY gently) and hold her there....then release. Usually she will be shocked and go about her business, if she tries again, repeat.

People need to remember that these are ANIMALS and this is normal animal behavior....no, it is not unusual and you see it quite often with hens attacking other hens for various reasons.

 

[polar peckers]

berrr gooawck! good thread..insane chooks

 

[KeepingDixie]

I have a sweet EE. She's well over a year now and all my family members just adore her for her friendly and darling disposition. Which is why I was shocked when she bumped out her chest, raised her head and vocalized loudly and angrily at me the other day. She even pecked me in the face as well as my hands. She didn't show any signs of backing down and then I realized I was wearing my dust mask and gloves. I think she was confused or feeling protective. As soon as I removed the mask and gloves she showed no interest in pecking me. She just seemed a little worked up cause she continued to sound upset. I held her close as I walked around with her in my arms. When I put her down she went joined the others in the yard. Chickens!

 

[McChooky]

Thank you Lazy Gardener! I will try all of your suggestions and update as to the progress. I would definitely rather curtail this behavior than have to cull her.

One more question though...I am allowed one rooster. We didn't get one out of concern for the neighbors. Do you think a rooster might calm her down?

If you're already being attacked by a hen and running why would you want a rooster that's bigger and heavier and meaner and got spurs? If she attacks you and you knock her off of you that will trigger a rooster and cause him to defend her. She could cause you to be attacked by a rooster.Wait until you are more experienced with keeping chicken in my opinion. Getting a rooster at this point would be biting off more than you can chew I'm afraid.They don't make the hens act better.. .

 

[KeepingDixie]

All this reminds me of a rooster my papa had when I was a teen. Being a skinny teen, I had twiggy legs. When I wore my jeans in the coop, the roo being a roo attacked my legs. However, if he happened to be loose and I was in the backyard wearing shorts he would run up to me and do the dance! I told my boyfriend at the time, "see even my dad's rooster thinks I have bird legs."