Hens need a Time Out!!!

[alogue5173]

Is there anyway to deal with bad chicken behavior? I have 10 hens and 1 roo and they follow me all around the yard when I'm outside. Most of them are very well behaved, but I have two or three hens that peck me in the back of the legs when walking. If I have jeans on it is a minimal irritation, but when I am in shorts it is downright painful. I have tried scolding them but they don't really seem to care. Any ideas? I know it seems really silly, but I was wondering if there is any was to discourage bad chicken behavior?????

 

[Rmstuck]

I would also like to know. I have 2 hens that will peck and bite my wife in the toes. She doesn't have nail polish on so its not like they think it's strawberries. They also bite her ring finger but I think because of her diamonds sparkling. I would also like a way to scold them from biting her. The other 4 leave her alone.

 

[alogue5173]

Do they have juvenile hall for chickens?

 

[7L Farm]

I take my finger curl it back & thump them back.Not trying to hurt them just enough to let them know. Works for me.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

I soooo need this too! What about discouraging them from going in the garden?

 

[hillbillyfarmer]

I have 2 Delaware roosters that do the same thing to get attention from me. So I pick them up and give them some attention they let out a hardy crow, I put them down and then they go about their business. Does make me mad some times because it really hurts even with jeans on so I know where your coming from. And I have not found any way to discourage it not that I have really tried.

 

[Angie8eggs]

Do you have freckles on your legs? I do, and on my arms, they would do that to me, I don't think they mean anything but it, at least I hope not!

 

[jed2012]

my favorite chicken died from pecking my mom's earing off!!! i cried and cried and cried!!!

we found her intestines out. :'( she always greeted me when i said"here! chicky chick chick chick chick chick chick!" like saying here kitty.

 

[RedDrgn]

I soooo need this too! What about discouraging them from going in the garden?

Fence it or plan to stand guard at all times while they are roaming and have the ability to enter the garden.

 

[PrairieChickens]

When a hen pecks at you, you just take a finger and either tap them on top of the head or give them a quick-little poke. This is kind of an imitation of their pecking-order behavior, and they get the message pretty quick. "Don't peck me--I'm bigger than you and I won't put up with it." Most hens are pretty polite--their rules of etiquette are just a bit different from ours.

As for how to keep a chicken out of the garden... you don't. You can try fencing them out of it, but short of standing guard while they're ranging there's very little way to keep them from paying your peppers a visit or tearing up all of your mulch in search of bugs. One note on keeping chickens out of gardens--I've found that instead of trying to herd or chase them out of the garden, it is far more effective to toss a dirt clod up in the air so that it lands in their general vicinity. This causes a thump and a rustle that is usually enough to encourage the chickens to move out of the vegetable garden and into more open terrain where they can keep an eye out for predators. This encourages them out of your garden without them making a connection between you and something that caused them alarm.