Evil barred rocks?

[downstownlady]

One of my BR's is just the sweetest little thing...the other two are not mean...but very prissy and do not wish to be messed with unless you give 'em a treat. My Orp's are curious...love the treats...but stand-offish. My EE & Sexers are the sweeties. So I guess there are 3 kinds of BR...the Good,

the Bad,

and the down right Ugly!

LOL

 

[WhetzelMomma]

I'm starting to think that it's not the BREEDS that have tendencies... but that each CHICKEN is different.

Both my BR are nice, but ALL of my chickens take treats pretty roughly if they get close enough to take them from your hands. I don't think they know how to do it any other way!

 

[SkyWarrior]

I have 2 BR: Watcher and Enforcer. Watcher is great. Enforcer is the velociraptor of the chickens. She'll make this ugly dinosaur noise if she thinks you're getting near her eggs. She'll bite if you try to reach right under her to get eggs. I'll pick her up with a sweatshirt on so if she bites, she gets a mouthful of shirt. And I don't put up with her behavior. I'm in charge and by golly she's not going to intimidate me. I've got geese who won't bite because I've trained them to respect me. I'll pick her up to check on whether she's laid an egg or not and she'll deal with it and make all the ugly dinosaur sounds she wants. In my coop, someone pecks at me, they get pushed back hard. Someone misbehaves badly: "Soup is good food."

If I were these BRs owner, I wouldn't allow the little creeps to bite me. Sorry, but I won't tolerate a badly behaving bird. Since they're chicks, I would catch them and gently hold their beaks when they try to bite. If they can't bite, by golly, they'll learn you're in charge. If you're coaxing them and being all sweetie with them, stop. Start picking them up and petting them gently, but don't act like it's their choice. They're being bad because you're probably let them get away with it. First bite would've been the last with me because I correct it immediately.

My rule for animals is never allow a baby critter to do what would be intolerable as an adult. Biting is number one on that list.

 

[Qi Chicken]

I have a BR that thinks she is the roosters enforcer. A black autralorp was running all over heck trying to avoid the roosters advances. Inevitably the rooster bagged his gal and the BR went over and pecked her on the head, I was in the house, but through the window it looked like she pecked her on the head WHILE the rooster was doing his thing. That'll teach YOU! That Black Australorp had a bad bad day. Personally, I think the Barred rock is just jealous. .........Why doesn't he chase ME like that?!?!? The other BR we have is weird, but in a nice way!

 

[mboreham1]

i found that if the BR are "junior" in the flock, they are less honorary with me. WHen they were younger they strutted around, i put them in with a bantam half their size but she soon became boss, the bantam went broody and she had the barred rocks running with fear anytime she went near them! All of them are now in with my 3 RIR's, all of them are lower in the pecking order than the RIR, i kin dof like seeing them bought down a notch or 3!

 

[3chimama]

hmmm...mine are very tame and the sweetest ones I have...

 

[Moxiechick]

I have 8 chickens, of 7 different breeds (see my signature line below). Of them all, the BR, Hazel, is the sweetest! She loves to be petted and likes hanging out with people. All the girls come for treats, but she hangs out the longest, even after the treats are long gone. I'll offer them cherry tomatoes from time to time. Hazel will gently peck at the seeds, unlike some of the others who will tear out huge chunks, sometimes grabbing a finger by mistake in their eagerness to get at the food. Lola, one of the EE's is particularily bad with this. I'm finding that both my EE's are rather flighty. The BR, BA and SLW are the friendliest, followed closely by the SS. Then the BO, CW with the EE's last.

 

[WYOwhy]

In my first 18 chicks, 8 were BRs. I called them the friendly girls because they loved be handled and snuggled. They were the most curious of the chicks and always first to explore and first to greet me when I came near. Sometimes they lightly pecked at me, but never hard. I loved them, but some folks didn't get along with them as well and didn't think they were friendly at all. They reminded me of a "one person dog" like a cocker.

 

[crtrlovr]

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Wow. Might not be a bad thing, chasing off the wild critters.


Quote:
Thank you for the suggestion. I will give that a try.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm hoping it's just a baby thing and that they'll grow out of it. One of them flew at me today and latched onto a button on my shirt which seemed like curiosity, maybe. But if they start pecking at the dog they'll have to go. The last thing we need is a huge vet bill from having a chicken peck the dog's eyeball or something.

Why would you already be making a decision to get rid of chickens if they start pecking at the dog? Why not train the dog to stay away from them, and train them (water pistol, hand clap, gentle rap with a stick or wand, etc.) to stay away from the dog?? Believe me, I do certainly understand about vet bills & such, but your chickens can be taught to respect your dog and give him/her its space. Hopefully your dog will do the same for the chickens... (not trying to be argumentative or confrontational, just don't understand the reasoning)

 

[tammyd57]

"if they start pecking at the dog they'll have to go. The last thing we need is a huge vet bill from having a chicken peck the dog's eyeball or something."


If a chicken was biting me, it would be MY eyeballs I would worry about, not the dog's.
Pecking the chicken on top f their head with the tip of your finger works wonders to let them know they have done something wrong. That's how chickens discipline each other, only with their beaks of course. It has to be a firm peck or it won't work because they are NOT gentle with each other. You won't have to do it hard enough to hurt her, just very firmly.