Hen pecking me behind my back!

[bjdewell]

My 24 week Welbar hen seems to always try to sneak attack me from behind. If I go in their run, she will walk behind me every time and start pecking me from behind! I can’t always keep her in front of me, she literally searches out to go behind me and do this every chance she gets. What would you do? She’s always been on the flighty side so she’s not handled as often and she’s near impossible to catch.

I have four Black Australorps, they turned 9 months yesterday. When they were younger, as they were approaching and finally into egg-laying, one of them, Coco - the friendliest pullet - started doing that to me. She was always behind me, it was summer and I always had shorts on, and she would peck the back of my legs. Once she broke the skin, and I always had little round black and blue marks on my legs. My doctor gave me a tetanus shot to make sure the pecking didn't harm me medically.

Anyway, I came to this forum with the problem and this is what I learned, and did. And it worked! I was always ready, and when she got too close, I'd bend down, make a "beak" with my thumb, forefinger and middle finger, and I'd start pecking her around her head and neck and sometimes her back. At first, I did it pretty gently, but the second and third times I decided to act like her REAL mother hen would, and let her know who was boss, and I pecked her quickly and kind of hard in those areas. She backed off in surprise.

The other thing was, at that point in their lives they start squatting, and when I'd put a hand down toward her, she would squat, and I'd hold her down with a flat hand on her back. Not pushing, just hold her there and she wouldn't move! The forum said 2 to 3 minutes. The first time, that seemed too long, and I held her down for probably 20 to 30 seconds. It didn't work, so the next time I did the longer hold, and when I let her up, I acted like a crazy mother hen, squawking, flapping my arms, stomping my feet and running after her with short steps. Letting her know that "I" was at the top of the pecking order, not "her." The whole flock of four ran like crazy from me.

I ended up doing both those actions, the pecking and the holding, correctly twice, and that was the end of her stalking and pecking me. She is still my friendliest little girl, and the others have never tried to peck me.

Good luck!

 

[KCChickenMomma]

The usual "behind the back" attack I see is when hubby crouches down in the run and his shirt rides up, and the chickens just can't resist pecking that exposed flesh. They're mini T-rexes after all!

OMG! I'm dying here. That's freaking hilarious. Don't let your girls around the plumber. I'll have to let my ladies out when my husband has his tool bags on. I do hope they do the same thing!!!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

OMG! I'm dying here. That's freaking hilarious. Don't let your girls around the plumber. I'll have to let my ladies out when my husband has his tool bags on. I do hope they do the same thing!!!!

I tried to "fix" it by buying longer shirts for hubby (he's 6'3" so regular t-shirts sometimes only reach the waist) but he keeps wearing his old shirts around the chickens, plus doesn't bother with a belt, so it continues to be open season on his back, at least in warmer weather.

 

[KCChickenMomma]

I tried to "fix" it by buying longer shirts for hubby (he's 6'3" so regular t-shirts sometimes only reach the waist) but he keeps wearing his old shirts around the chickens, plus doesn't bother with a belt, so it continues to be open season on his back, at least in warmer weather.

I feel you. My hubby is 6'5" and a bean pole so even with a belt his pants sit low and his shirts ride up. The longer shirts do help a lot but only if they wear them. Maybe my ladies can help with that. LoL
Doesn't it bother him getting pecked in such a sensitive area? I'm still cracking up. The images popping up in my head are out of control.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Doesn't it bother him getting pecked in such a sensitive area? I'm still cracking up. The images popping up in my head are out of control.

Apparently it doesn't bother him because even though he scolds them, he still doesn't change shirts or belt his pants and doesn't stop crouching down in front of them, which is the easiest fix of all.

Best is when he turns one way to yell at one and another one comes in from the other side and pecks.

 

[Countryboy17]

You sure it's a pullet? This is common behavior for aggressive cockerels.

Agreed!

 

[farmer joal]

My 24 week Welbar hen seems to always try to sneak attack me from behind. If I go in their run, she will walk behind me every time and start pecking me from behind! I can’t always keep her in front of me, she literally searches out to go behind me and do this every chance she gets. What would you do? She’s always been on the flighty side so she’s not handled as often and she’s near impossible to catch.

Do you feed them treats a lot? A while ago I was giving treats daily and if I came in without treats this one hen (who is quite a character I must say ) would peck at me, frustrated that I weren’t treating them.

Or look at it like a cat and dog thing. Maybe your chook wants to sniff you to make sure its you her beloved mum. It may have been a tough night a the bar.

 

[farmer joal]

Or look at it like a cat and dog thing. Maybe your chook wants to sniff you to make sure its you her beloved mum. It may have been a tough night at the bar.

 

[Iluveggers]

The worst item I wear into the coop is my fuzzy camouflage pants. Must be a combination of the texture and the colors. They all come over trying to remove the fuzzies! I try to remember to put on different pants, and they remind me why as soon as I forget and walk in with them on. It’s all of them, not just one!

 

[Coops Dad]

I have a few RIRs which love to ask for attention by pecking at the hem of my jeans or my shoelaces. I also have had hens bite me for reaching under them to gather eggs; the worst was a silkie bantam which would bite then twist and shake her head like she was trying to keep a divot of flesh. They all get a pass.

In my early days of chicken keeping, I had an aggressive hen which would attack as if she was a rooster, flying and jumping at me with her feet out in front in attack mode. I named her "Cato" after Peter Seller's butler in his Pink Panther movies, since she would pounce on me from wherever she was when I entered the run- straight on, from the top of the coop, from behind the feeder- it didn't matter. I soon got tired of it and she went from being involved with breakfasts to being committed to a dinner, if you follow my meaning.

More plainly, actual aggressive birds, cockerel or pullet, go into the pot.