Human Perch

[oldirtychicken]

Well as some of you know i am new to the whole chicken raising thing but have done my best to make them an amazing home, my chickens are 6 POL, Hy-line's, no roosters because we arent allowed them in my city.

A few have started squatting and being very vocal but one has decided to use me as a perch when i come outside she likes to chase me down and sit on my lap and peck the hell out of me, why is this happening? is this a sign that she might be a broody hen? or does she think im a rooster? i do have a big beard lol. Now 2 of her sisters are catching on and it looks like they want to either eat me or you know the other senario.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Don't let her peck you. When she pecks you hold her down on the ground with your hands for a few seconds and then let her go. You need to show them that you are at the top of the pecking order. If you let them peck you then you are subordinate. They are joyful they are higher than you and are just letting you have it.

At the very hint of them thinking about pecking you, grab her an hold her down to let her know that you won't stand for being her subordinate. Of course do this so she isn't injured at all.

I once had a hen that got so bad she actually bruised me!!! I had to push her away with my hand when she came near. Finally she realized I was the top hen after doing what I described above.

They can be ferocious when it comes to the pecking order so you need to be the top chicken.

 

[oldirtychicken]

Don't let her peck you. When she pecks you hold her down on the ground with your hands for a few seconds and then let her go. You need to show them that you are at the top of the pecking order. If you let them peck you then you are subordinate. They are joyful they are higher than you and are just letting you have it.

At the very hint of them thinking about pecking you, grab her an hold her down to let her know that you won't stand for being her subordinate. Of course do this so she isn't injured at all.

I once had a hen that got so bad she actually bruised me!!! I had to push her away with my hand when she came near. Finally she realized I was the top hen after doing what I described above.

They can be ferocious when it comes to the pecking order so you need to be the top chicken.

Thanx, i somewhat thought it had something to do with the pecking order ut i thought it was funny so i let her do it, its only been 2 days so i wont let that happen again.

 

[Jajika]

That is good advice. Worked for me as well. I had a very assertive hen who would go after my legs. One time she drew blood!!!

Someone on this board suggested the exact same thing: Put your hand on her back and hold her down for a few minutes. If she does it again, do the same thing.

It's been several years and I've haven't had a problem since.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

That is good advice. Worked for me as well. I had a very assertive hen who would go after my legs. One time she drew blood!!!

Someone on this board suggested the exact same thing: Put your hand on her back and hold her down for a few minutes. If she does it again, do the same thing. 

It's been several years and I've haven't had a problem since. 

I try this with my little cochin roo but it doesn't help. Sometimes he will layoff for a day but thats about it. Luckily my hens are super sweet and love being around me, the roo on the other hand...can't turn my back on him. When I collect eggs I have to keep my foot out so he attacks my boot. I've tried being nice, holding him, ignoring him, feeding him, chasing him, kicking him, pinning him nothing works. Any advice other than culling him or giving him away? He is an excellent roo to the girls when they free range and he is too small to mount them & pluck their feathers, they just shove him off their backs. Lol

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: With roosters it is a bit different. The way to a rooster's heart is treats and don't coddle him. You want him to respect you and stay away from you. I don't hold roosters anymore to hug them. But I do offer treats and call them over for treats frequently. You can even offer up a little blade of grass (clipping). That is what roosters do to each other I have noticed. They even hold up little sticks to offer their fellow roosters.

If he is at the stage of attacking you all the time - when they get to that stage I get rid of them. However, since he is a bantam you can choose to tolerate it since he is short- but the thing is that bantam roosters can still inflict damage to you by flying up to your face and hurting you. So personally I would get rid of him. You don't want your eyes injured, or a child injured who visits you.

If you love him tremendously you can put him in a pen by himself and get him a rooster buddy to be friends with him. This may calm him down- being away from his girls. However, there is a significant disease risk in bringing in new chickens.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

With roosters it is a bit different. The way to a rooster's heart is treats and don't coddle him. You want him to respect you and stay away from you. I don't hold roosters anymore to hug them. But I do offer treats and call them over for treats frequently. You can even offer up a little blade of grass (clipping). That is what roosters do to each other I have noticed. They even hold up little sticks to  offer their fellow roosters.

If he is at the stage of attacking you all the time - when they get to that stage I get rid of them. However, since he is a bantam you can choose to tolerate it since he is short- but the thing is that bantam roosters can still inflict damage to you by flying up to your face and hurting you. So personally I would get rid of him. You don't want your eyes injured, or a child injured who visits you.

If you love him tremendously you can put him in a pen by himself and get him a rooster buddy to be friends with him. This may calm him down- being away from his girls. However, there is a significant disease risk in bringing in new chickens. 

Thank you so much for your reply. That was my problem I totally coddled him! He was so small, sweet & soft. we loved him and named him after our dear friend. Rachel the rooster lol. I recall late last summer it was a cold.rainy day and Rachel looked like hell! He was not tending to his girls, he looked like he was going to keel over, not eating etc. I picked him up wrapped him in burlap, hand fed him with electrolytes and brought him inside and put the heat on for him. I then hand fed him and babied him for most of the day UNTIL he pecked me that afternoon for the first time! I backed off thinking he must be really feeling like crap to get defensive and peck me! The next day he was right as rain!! EXCEPT he hated me!!!! It was a complete 180. I damaged his ego big time. Now he goes after everyones legs & feet. Sometimes I give him a stare and he back off. But he picks fights now - the jerk. I should have let him die in the rain that day! That b*$t@** better never go for my face!!

Ill try your technique of giving him little sticks and grass but I'm sure damage is done and he sees me as a problem. I WAS thinking of getting a bigger dominant Alpha rooster that is well behaved with people and making Rachel his little Beta Roo. Would that put Rachel in his place? Though Id hate to have a big roo stress out my hens. Rachel is too small to mount them they just shobe him off lol. Plus I don't think I want another non egg laying mouth to feed. My hens are seriously slacking and thats a whole different issue.

Grrr...!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote: Well a lot of roosters do just fine being coddled and don't turn on their owners. So don't blame yourself here. I have found though that it invites trouble to hug roosters a lot. And some roosters will turn on you after a couple of years and you didn't coddle them. I don't know if putting a dominant boy in there will help or not. You are welcome! Hopefully you get more responses. You might start a new thread and more people will respond hopefully.

 

[oldirtychicken]

Not sure if some of yous read the first post, but this thread was about a hen not a rooster

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

#2 gave good advice about pinning her down. Hen or roo it's about demonstrating you are alpha. She was chasing you down to bully you. Have you had any progress since posting this thread?