Hen biting fingers

[Blessedmewith4]

We have 5 Buff Brahama hens. Since they were little we have given them treats out of our hands. I think that bit us in the butt (pun intended) because now when we go outside they will run up to us and try and bite our hands and fingers. They have got my 4 year old a few times. We immediately stopped given them treats out our hands, but is it too late to fix this? Thank you.

 

[azygous]

You have a very common problem. No, it's not too late, but you will need to change how you distribute treats.

It doesn't matter if you have very, very tame and friendly chickens or chickens that almost never get handled, if you hold out your hand with a bunch of tasty treats to a crowd of chickens, they will mob you, all trying to out-compete the others to get their share. This happens to the best of us. Fingers get bitten in the process. You might say they are "collateral casualties".

If you have a favorite chicken and you want to have a special treat giving moment, pick up that chicken and go someplace out of sight of the others to visit, cuddle them, and give treats. You will be surprised how calm and respectful a chicken can be if she doesn't think another chicken will beat her to the treat.

If you wish to treat the entire flock, it's best not even to try to deliver them one at a time to one chicken at a time. It flat out won't work. Just toss the treats. The way to make it more equitable for older chickens that can't compete as well as the younger ones is to toss treats for the young ones at one end of the run, and while they're occupied, give treats at the other end to the old and the slow.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We have 5 Buff Brahama hens. Since they were little we have given them treats out of our hands. I think that bit us in the butt (pun intended) because now when we go outside they will run up to us and try and bite our hands and fingers. They have got my 4 year old a few times. We immediately stopped given them treats out our hands, but is it too late to fix this? Thank you.

Peck them back with a finger and tell them no. If it persists, give a light, sharp tug on some head feathers (just enough to get their attention, not pull them out) I have a pullet I have to do that with nightly since she associates my hand with food now. After she gets the hint, I can pet her like a normal pet.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Here's my biter (1/2 Calico Princess, 1/4 bantam Cochin and 1/4 Ameraucana), Claire. When I have to tug a feather, I close my thumb and pointer over it like when you hold a pencil, and just close them all the way. It makes a slight tug but itsmt forceful enough to pull it out

 

[kerbotx]

I'd recommend transitioning to something similar, but safer - feed from a long-handled spoon or ladle, or a small cup. And use verbal commands for reinforcement - no, easy - withhold the treat if they don't comply, then try again. I also like to tell mine 'all gone' when the treats are, in fact, all gone It might not work as well as with dogs, but it does work some!

 

[azygous]

You can sometimes discipline and train individual chickens. But if you have chickens in a large group, it's futile. We all look at humans as being civilized in their behavior, but look at what happens at department stores on Black Friday. Humans become frantic, panicked, and determined not to lose out to the crowd of other humans there to compete with them for a limited amount of sale items on the shelf.

This is the mentality of chickens in a crowd. They are just as frantic and panicked to try to get what is their share of the handout. There is no reasoning with either a human crowd or an avian one. (Unless you set up controls ahead of time.) As long as there is even one other chicken present when you are giving out treats, they are going to be frantically competing. If you want to train any "manners" into a chicken, it needs to be one on one.