Hen being aggressive towards me..

[Zeus0027]

I have a welsummer/EE mix I hatched in May of this year. She is a mean thing! I have a cockerel in there with her, and 8 other hens. She is aggressive with me. She will follow me close, peck at my legs. She jumps and gets my hands, and the other day, she grabbed onto my pants and held on, thrashing about like as if a puppy grabbed on playing and wouldnt let go. She's lost her little hen mind. Any advice? Thanks!!

I had this happen with a copper Maran she started being aggressive to me pecking on my feet and legs. I decided I needed to to be the big hen -I grab her and hold her by the legs upside down for a short minute and toss her on her feet. It took a couple of times and she needs an occasional reminder but she is MUCH better now.

 

[Zeus0027]

I have a welsummer/EE mix I hatched in May of this year. She is a mean thing! I have a cockerel in there with her, and 8 other hens. She is aggressive with me. She will follow me close, peck at my legs. She jumps and gets my hands, and the other day, she grabbed onto my pants and held on, thrashing about like as if a puppy grabbed on playing and wouldnt let go. She's lost her little hen mind. Any advice? Thanks!!

I have a copper Maran who started to do this at about 6 months old. She would follow me and peck my feet and legs. I got feed up and grabbed her and held her by the legs upside down for a short minute, had to do this a few times but she is so much better now!

 

[linguini]

Reading this thread made me laugh! My top hen, Turken, did exactly this to me when they were all about 9-10 months old for quite a while!

I was hanging around in their cube/run with them a lot (too fascinated by them) and she would constantly come up to challenge me by pecking on my legs from behind. Unlike others who mostly pecked me out of curiosity, touching or checking me out, she pecked me with such a force that really, really hurt.

My theory at the time was that she thought of me as one of "them", and was trying to dominate me to establish the pecking order. I did exactly what @aart did - pecked her back with my fingers acting like a beak. I also put gesture on her to make her squat so that she knew who was the boss.

This went on for quite a while, but she finally stopped. They all still come up to me when I go into the run, peck my shoes, my legs or my butt when I bend over. But to me those are more of "loving" touches. None like those painful, and surprising attacks Turken did.

I also think that the reason she became the top hen was because she has the most powerful peck. She was the tiniest one when they were all chicks, so the pecking order definitely was not determined by size.

 

[ElizaMay]

@Sclark0012
HI! How are things going with your aggressive hen? I'm looking for tips/tricks to try on my hen. The only problem is my little itch is a Serama and I don't want to hurt her. She does exactly like you've mentioned with your bird. Whenever I peck back at my hen, it makes her even more aggressive and I think she'll go on forever. I'm lucky that she's so tiny, but at the same time, it's really difficult to correct a tiny bird. Her legs look like they're an inch long so I don't know of any other things to try whenever she bites. Ignoring her like I would advise many people with a puppy, doesn't work, "pecking" back seems to make her even worse. Her comb and wattles are so tiny that I can't get ahold of them quickly enough. Maybe repetitively pecking back as long as she'll go will work, but she's a stubborn thing and makes me think she'll go on for quite a while.

You're not pecking hard enough - to do less is just entertainment.

Peck HARDER, pull neck feathers, 'jump' on her with your hands as another bird would - hold her down with one hand while jerking on her neck feathers or poking and pinching hard with the other.

Hold her down until she stops squawking and struggling and submits/stays still, then release. Repeat if necessary. Generally once is enough, but some birds are bred in the bone stubborn and it takes a lot to make an impression.

It is useless to 'peck', unless it hurts - it isn't loving preening, it's getting a dominance point across. I balded a small patch on the neck of one very nasty golden comet 2 summers ago in front of all the hens she was terrorizing (not like a rooster won't do that on occasion). She has been a model citizen since.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

You're not pecking hard enough - to do less is just entertainment.

Peck HARDER, pull neck feathers, 'jump' on her with your hands as another bird would - hold her down with one hand while jerking on her neck feathers or poking and pinching hard with the other.

Hold her down until she stops squawking and struggling and submits/stays still, then release. Repeat if necessary. Genetally once is enough, but some birds are bred in the bone stubborn amd it takes a lot to make an impression.

It is useless to 'peck', unless it hurts - it isn't loving preening, it's getting a dominance point across. I balded a small patch on the neck of one very nasty golden comet 2 summers ago in front of all the hens she was terrorizing (not like a rooster won't do that on occasion). She has been a model citizen since.

But she's a little tiny Serama. I am such a softie, I know. I am so scared I'm going to hurt her.

 

[ElizaMay]

I had this happen with a copper Maran she started being aggressive to me pecking on my feet and legs. I decided I needed to to be the big hen -I grab her and hold her by the legs upside down for a short minute and toss her on her feet. It took a couple of times and she needs an occasional reminder but she is MUCH better now.

Done that with a rooster in front of the hens, he did not try to earn a second go-tound.

 

[ElizaMay]

But she's a little tiny Serama. I am such a softie, I know. I am so scared I'm going to hurt her.

If you don't want to peck and risk injury, then hold her down with her head down on the ground and jerk on a neck feather or two, and keep her there despite the struggle until she lays still and gives in. Worst that can happen is a couple feathers may come out.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

If you don't want to peck and risk injury, then hold her down with her head down on the ground and jerk on a neck feather or two, and keep her there despite the struggle until she lays still and gives in. Worst that can happen is a couple feathers may come out.

I'll try this. She doesn't like it at all if she's held down so maybe that will make a difference. Thank you

 

[ElizaMay]

I'll try this. She doesn't like it at all if she's held down so maybe that will make a difference. Thank you

If you know she doesn't like it, that is the perfect discouragement for bad behavior!

 

[aart]

It is useless to 'peck', unless it hurts - it isn't loving preening, it's getting a dominance point across.

I don't know if it needs to 'hurt', but it does need to give them a good jolt.