Hen pecking ME...

[erinangele]

My beautiful Speckled Sussex has all of a sudden decided she is the honorary Rooster and started pecking (and sometimes full on attacking) me almost every time i go out there. I have started just facing her and holding still until she backs down, and that has helped quite a bit. I've seen chickens wearing Peepers to help with feather pecking and wonder if this would help stop her from pecking me?

She used to be my sweetest hen! We lost 2 chickens within a month (one to a animal and the other to a prolapsed vent), so I'm wondering if she blames me for their disappearances....


Also, I have 3 chicks who we will be introducing to the flock. Maybe the addition will change the pecking order and she will stop? She is not aggressive to the other chickens. It's more like she is trying to protect them.

 

[roostersandhens]

Some chickens will peck just because they want to be held. I have 10 chickens like that.
Good Luck!

 

[donrae]

Chickens only peck when they think they're dominant to you. She's telling you she's the boss of you! Since this isn't true, you need to stop her. Walk toward her and make her move away from you. If she doesn't move, nudge her with your foot. You're proving to her you can make her do what you want, that you're the boss of her. If she tries attacking you, boot her away. I'm not saying you have to drop kick her, there is a way to use your leg to move an animal that's not really kicking but definitely pushes them away from you. Don't let her approach you for a while. Any time she comes toward you, use your body and personal space to push her away. Don't worry about making her afraid of you. She's already proved she's not afraid of you, now you need to get her to respect you. Animals can respect people and still be friendly and fun to be around, respect doesn't mean they cringe and run away from you. It means they don't invade your space uninvited.

 

[erinangele]

Thank you for your help! She definitely thinks she is dominant over me. The first time she attacked me i did instinctually kicked her away. When i nudge her it makes her more aggressive. She fluffs her neck feathers and attacked with her feet. I felt like the other chickens became fearful of me when they saw me kick/nudged her so I stopped. She, like I mentioned, only became more aggressive. So I started carrying her around the yard. She does not struggle when i carry her, only gives me a annoyed look then kind of charges me a little (no pecking or attacking) when I put her down. This all started after my GLW was culled (not in front of them) because of the prolapsed vent. Anyway, now when she does her mini charge, i stand still and face her until she walks away. Then if she starts following me when I walk, I stop and face her again. It seems to be helping, since she has not attacked me with her feet since. I have also made it a point to hand feed them treats.

I guess the Peeper is more like a band-aid vs. fixing the problem. But the weather is getting warmer and I don't want her pecking my bare skin. Is there any other way to show who is boss besides kicking her? I just don't want the other girls to be scared of me, and again, it seems to only make her more aggressive.

Also, the other chickens have stopped squatting for me when I go out there. My GLW was #1 in the pecking order and would always squat. Interesting how removing one bird could change the whole dynamic of the flock...

 

[erinangele]

I re-read your post and see that you meant walking towards her to make her move, not necessarily kick her. That makes sense, I will give that a try tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[donrae]

I re-read your post and see that you meant walking towards her to make her move, not necessarily kick her. That makes sense, I will give that a try tomorrow. Thanks.

Absolutely. Use your personal space to make you move away from her. Standing still facing her is better than backing away, but making her yield to you is way better.