I dread going in thir BIG yard.... they are so wild act like they ae starving and so competitive

[ladyearth]

since the new girls have been added months ago... the crazy jumping up has gotten worse. and in this heat it is worse. Constantly under my feet.. and will jump up and knock the dish out of my hand tryng to jump on it and beat the othrs to food... the 2 oldest are the bossies t and constantly peck and try to keeo the new almost 6month old girl away from food and treats....
they have two diff coops and each with attached runs...... so far but share the Giant fenced in 1/2 acre..
Yesterday one jumped up on the dish and knocked it down and cause the glass dish to break... I have used glass since the bef=ginning for th groups I am just carful with it...
It is so discouraging since I am still less thn 2 years into chickens... plus I worry about falling over and getting hurt... Hubby said stop using glass. But that still wont solve the frenzy problem..... esp doiling out Jap beetles and peanuts etc... even bringing in their fermented grains I give them once or twice a day
Aboutredy to give all up and have a life again.... if I could trust new owner and all the money and time spent in fencing and coops and .....
thanks all

 

[azygous]

It sounds like you are not having a very pleasant experience with your chickens. It may be time to assess the reasons you had for wanting to keep chickens, and to see if they are still good enough to go on keeping them.

List the good things you like about having chickens. Then list the bad things. If the bad things outnumber the good, it's time to put an ad on Craig's List or in the local newspaper.

 

[Percheron chick]

Are they out of feed when you go out? Do you always have treats or feed when you go out? Sounds like to have conditioned them. Stop with the treats until they start ignoring you when you're outside.

 

[aart]

Agrees you have conditioned them to mob you.

Wonders if you are feeding a nutritionally balanced dry feed that is available 24/7?
They might just be hungry. ....or spoiled with treats which may not be giving them proper nutrition.

Throw treats thru the fence instead of going inside? I do this out in the run.

Most my birds wouldn't ever jump on me-too skittish to get close enough to begin with.......
.......and I wouldn't allow it anyway, the ones who have tried get sharply pushed off / away.

 

[ladyearth]

yes they have acess to dry organic AND NON GMO feed plus several grains in a tredle feeder plus I give then crock potted cooked Garlic, Jap beetles too ...Mostly thru the fence now. But its hard to see who gets what since they are the same breed.... Peanuts raw I crack fo them before bed....
I still dont think of that as treats They even mob me with any thing inside even bringing in fermented feed once or twice a day....
Reason got chckens "cause we are what we EAT "
ANYONE I BOUGHT EGGS FROM HERE in this semi rural area kept them confined and OR gave them soy laden GMO SOY crap feed... that why I bought chickens......
I gave away my first two bunches later found out not such good conditions..... which still bothers me...
so If I give them up I have to make sure they are well taken care of.....

 

[centrarchid]

I have had feed bucket aggression as you describe and it is most evident with males although females obviously do it as well. To get around it I apply feed early in the morning before birds come off the roost. Feed is not applied the night before to prevent attracting rodents and predators like opossums and raccoons. Then I go out multiple times a day with feed carrying container without feed in it. If they get overly nosy, then let them investigate it, They will quickly learn not to waste their time,

 

[azygous]

Lady earth, my friend, I sense a whole lot of "shoulds" and "oughts" and "musts", and not any joy and passion when you discuss your chickens. I can tell by your words that your chickens are not a source of fulfillment and joy but are a cause of suffering instead.

There are easier ways to achieve the goals of healthy eating than by forcing yourself to endure what amounts to torture for you.

There's no shame in admitting defeat if it means your life will be enhanced.

Craig's List is a great way to find the right home for your chickens as you can spell out all the conditions you require for them to live under. You might even insist on a "post re-homing visit" as followup to make sure the chickens are happy in their new home.

Then do the same kind of search for a seller of the type of non-GMO eggs you require.

You deserve to have some joy in your life.

 

[junebuggena]

Time to retrain them. They have learned that you have goodies, and jumping and pestering is a good way to get you to put it down fast. Stop all extras. Only give them feed for now. Make sure the feeder is filled before you open up the coop in the morning. Make point to walk past the coop/run several times throughout the day holding their regular treat dish, but it should be completely empty. Once they ignore you walking past with the dish, then go in with the empty dish. Do this until they realise that there are no treats to be had. After a week or two, if there has been no mobbing, then you can start giving goodies again. Never treat and the same time everyday, and change the containers. At least once or twice a week put an empty dish in instead of one with treats. That way, they never know what you are or aren't bringing them.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Stop giving them added food for awhile. You,ve spoiled them rotten causing the issue of jumping on you for treats. This in turn gives you more you time during the day. I take five minutes to bring feed, water then let birds out of coop each morning. Then one minute to close coop and bring feed container inside at night. Chickens are the easiest livestock to care for and should not cause stress. With two coops you've got two flocks, by letting them out together you cause daily pecking order behavior. Let one flock out each day or combine into one flock.

The issues you have with your birds are not caused by the birds.

 

[jak2002003]

My goodness.. what has happened!

Easy way to solve the problem is have a big feeder that never runs out of feed.. you just top it up every few days.

You don't need to be giving them all that cooked stuff and beetles, etc. They will go crazy for them.. like kids for candy.

Just the big feeder and thrown in a few cabbages of vegetables over the fence sometimes.

Right now they see you as a moving candy dispenser.