I think I've become a chicken....

[magicpigeon]

Your hen is so beautiful! i have only experiences something like this once, my long gone silkie rooster would sometimes hop onto my lap at feeding time, but i suppose he was just looking for scraps which he always got for being so darned cute!

 

[sandykopandy]

HA! It's funny how quickly they learn certain things. In the mornings I often go out there and have my coffee and toast while I sit with them. She has learned about toast and now she sometimes hops up into my lap for toast in the mornings. It's different though. No sweet clucking- just that "gimme some" look in her eyes. I discourage her from doing that because I don't much like a chicken trying to eat the toast out of my hand, but then she just stands nearby, waiting for my heart to soften. One of my dogs is very chicken friendly. It cracks me up when they are BOTH begging for toast right beside each other.

 

[ThinkingChickens]

She's so cute! I think the beak wiping is like a lab pushing their head into your hand. To me it's a pet me, pet me thing. My one girl, Ethel (Jersey Giant) does this to my feet when she comes over to be picked up. I always saw it as more of a submissive behavior. Always as in, she's only been doing it for a week. LOL

 

[7&8]

Aaaaw, chicken love! Sweet thread, lovely hen! I'm glad she has some poultry pals, and I hope that they become friends. I'm thinking they will - your red hen seems pretty well-adjusted. Thank you, sandy!

I have a beak wiper who seeks me for this purpose. I've decided that chickens enjoy different surfaces for beak wiping/ sharpening, and my jeans, or the old, wool jacket I wear, feels nice and works really well. At the least, it's a change from the dirt, misc. wood, and grass they usually wipe their beaks on. When she's done wiping her beak, she searches me over for pilled fabric. For some reason, and there are a few of the birds - including the dear, old departed roo - who really loved picking the pills from an old pair of sweatpants I often wear to the yard in the morning. We're talking miniscule bits of material, so I am never too concerned about them eating it. Besides, the've just about renewed my garments - better than a sweater stone!

I have had begging chickens. One little bantam was just plain obnoxious. Once, I wasn't thinking about her, and I took a sandwich out. She was on me like a seagull gone mad. As I was trying to get her off of my sandwich, she got a great gob of mustard on her back. Has anyone ever tried to get mustard out of a white Leghorn's feathers?

 

[sandykopandy]

HA! Why, no. I can't say I have ever tried to get mustard out of any chicken's feathers, not even a leghorn's!

The beak wiping definitely has more than one purpose. When she gets up on my lap it's always the very first thing she does and she does it usually just a few times and doesn't do it again, unlike when she's cleaning it and does it until she gets the job done. I will choose to think of it as affection since this this will boost my self esteem

!

 

[Gullygarden]

My almost 7 week old babies do that beak rubbing on me if I sit very still in the coop and they get on my lap.I think sometimes it is social and other times it is more obviously yogurt! I am so sorry you lost your other two girls to dogs. That was why I got an electric mesh run and a solar charger. Not pretty, but so far it has kept out the predators.One went yelping off just last week. My two remaining older hens seem very content to stay inside it, especially since I enclosed a compost heap!

 

[sandykopandy]

Quote:
I hope that works to keep the predators away. It sure sounds promising! Yes, an enclosed compost heap to chickens is like having a home with a pool, jacuzzi and grocery store! Good thinking!

 

[GardenGal]

Ah, so sweet! We have one chicken, a Barred Rock named Dixie, who is super sweet and always ready for adventures. Wish she could meet your girl!

 

[ezekielSM]

All our little girls love to beak-wipe when they're being cuddled or decide to sit on our laps.

It's really cute! I thought they were just trying to clean their beaks off (they also do it on the floor after eating in their coop), but maybe it really is affection!

 

[Dowie]

Oh my God, bringing new chickens in can be hard. The old ones can be so nasty! We had our old hen Megatron peck a new pullet right in the eye...bad infection...she recovered. Gizmos sounds pretty restrained, really.

Lesson: never name a hen Megatron.