Hen aggressive with child

[kacothran]

Hi! I just wanted to see if any of you had some ideas for me about how to deal with a hen who’s being aggressive with our toddler. My little girl is only a year and half old, but she loves her chickens sooo much and loves to be involved in their care. Petunia is a Wyandotte hen who is the lowest of the pecking order among the chickens, but whenever my daughter’s around, she drops her shoulder and tries to run at her. My husband and I stand near by and chase her off when she does this, but it isn’t getting better. I’d rather train her to be nice than give her away, but I’m not sure what to do!

 

[nchls school]

Get rid of the hen; no matter what training you'd devise the bird can never be trusted. I have had many angry birds fly in my face as an adult over the last fifty+ years and it hurt. For a toddler it could mean losing an eye or worse.

 

[Folly's place]

x2!!! Your child is at risk here, as mentioned above, and this hen needs to be gone ASAP.
You can maybe train this hen to avoid you, but that's not the problem. Whatever she's thinking, it's not what your child needs, and can't be fixed. If you are considering rehoming this hen, think hard about it, because any small child could be in danger of injury, and the liability will fall on you.
Mary

 

[centrarchid]

Does your son feed the chickens himself?

 

[kacothran]

Does your son feed the chickens himself?

No, my daughter’s always with us outside. But we have a fairly big yard and she wanders around on her own and likes to walk up to chickens. Sometimes she’ll give them oats

 

[centrarchid]

No, my daughter’s always with us outside. But we have a fairly big yard and she wanders around on her own and likes to walk up to chickens. Sometimes she’ll give them oats

I am betting you are seeing what I call feed bucket aggression which I saw displayed against my rug rats. Aggressive chicken has likely decided she gets fresh presentation of feed when she rushes your child (daughter child). You child will be the hard one to work with because likely to small to understand what is going on.

I would make so feed is put out all at once, rather than in small amounts where chickens jump preferentially on the freshly presented feed. Not as fun for rug rats but will take away award associated with rushing little people.

Adults may have to do feeding for a bit so hen breaks association. Or hold child up when she is applying feed. My daughter was real bad about promoting feed bucket aggression.

 

[kacothran]

I am betting you are seeing what I call feed bucket aggression which I saw displayed against my rug rats. Aggressive chicken has likely decided she gets fresh presentation of feed when she rushes your child (daughter child). You child will be the hard one to work with because likely to small to understand what is going on.

I would make so feed is put out all at once, rather than in small amounts where chickens jump preferentially on the freshly presented feed. Not as fun for rug rats but will take away award associated with rushing little people.

Adults may have to do feeding for a bit so hen breaks association. Or hold child up when she is applying feed. My daughter was real bad about promoting feed bucket aggression.

Actually, none of the aggressive behavior happens when food is involved. It’s just random and around the yard. She’s only given them treats two times and neither time was there aggression.

 

[centrarchid]

It starts with food, but feed not needed on regular basis once underway. Need not be kid that started it. Parents could have started it.

Show a video clip of behavior. I have seen a lot of chicken behaviors and you description does not match well with anything.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Hi! I just wanted to see if any of you had some ideas for me about how to deal with a hen who’s being aggressive with our toddler. My little girl is only a year and half old, but she loves her chickens sooo much and loves to be involved in their care. Petunia is a Wyandotte hen who is the lowest of the pecking order among the chickens, but whenever my daughter’s around, she drops her shoulder and tries to run at her. My husband and I stand near by and chase her off when she does this, but it isn’t getting better. I’d rather train her to be nice than give her away, but I’m not sure what to do!

Wyandottes can be aggressive sometimes. But you might be able to train her out of it. I don’t know.
Getting rid of her is an extreme option, but maybe you might have to.

 

[kacothran]

It starts with food, but feed not needed on regular basis once underway. Need not be kid that started it. Parents could have started it.

Show a video clip of behavior. I have seen a lot of chicken behaviors and you description does not match well with anything.

It’s not food related. Our chickens are fed from a self serve feeder in their run. The behavior only started when my daughter tried to start petting her. Thanks for your help though.