is this normal chicken behavior?

[mandersn]

I have 26 chickens, assorted breeds and sex, 14 of the 26 are14 weeks old tomorrow, not sure of sexes yet. the other 12 are adults, 11 hens, 1 rooster. They are in a moveable coop with 1600 sq ft of grass area to forage in. We move it every 3- 4 days to fresh grass. My question is: whenever I enter the run, which at this time I have to step over the fence, the chickens all gather under my feet, and peck my boots, pants legs. They wont leave me alone to fill feeders and waters. Is this normal? The older ones didn't used to be this aggressive, but the younger ones have always been this way. They were all joined together about 1 month ago.

 

[keiferlou]

Do they stop when they have food to focus on or is it more like they're trying to show you whos boss? Mine do this but it's never in an aggressive way, it's more of a "hey, what kind of treat do you have for us now?" kind of way. They also recognize things I'm carrying and if they see the container for meal worms, this amps up the behavior by 100x! If I have a cup of their regular feed, they recognize that and aren't as excited, it's more like "meh, whatever". This is especially true for my younger ones. Not so much the older ones, they know the drill. I also make them wait if they're being too rambunctious and I don't make feeding/treating the only interaction with them. That would be my first suggestion, don't reinforce it with food.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

It just means they love you...and whatever you are wearing! They aren't attacking you though right? This can be a sign of dominance.

 

[mandersn]

No they do not attack me, the go after the container of food, they peck my ring, boots pants, etc.. Not to bad. Its just so hard to move around without stepping on them.

 

[tiffrosef]

Mine do the same thing, sometimes they even yell at me if I am taking to long filling the feeders. I like to think of it as signs of affection, lol.

 

[CountryFlock]

My chickens do that ALL the time. They always peck at my pants and pull my shoe laces.

It hurts a lot sometimes when they peck and I sometimes start bleeding...