Mean hen

[Mkhobs]

Hi all! My adopted flock has been with me for about 2 months now. Becky, the friendliest in the beginning, now is acting like a fool towards me. She jumps up and attacks like a roo; I then have to scoot her away with my foot or scoop her up and hold her for a moment. Up until recently, that worked. Today, she attacked when I brought in snacks (after I put them down). I did not have time to scoop her and hold her for a moment, so I scooted her away with my foot, she went nuts and got me from behind and when I turned around to confront her, that caused my old rooster to attack me for the first time. There is no reason why she is being a turd, and it seems like she is just simply in a bad mood-not broody though. Is there anything I can do from here? Tips and tricks? I really don't want the rooster to start being mean so I'm wondering if I need to rehome, cull, etc...TIA.

 

[azygous]

You discipline an aggressive hen the same as you would an aggressive roo. You restrain her by pushing her to the ground and exerting pressure on her back. This is how chickens demonstrate their superiority over another chicken, so they understand what this means, and that message is that you are the dominant. This should get immediate results.

Hold the hen down until she quits struggling and submits. You can periodically reinforce this by pushing her to the ground every so often regardless. She should have the message embed in her brain by the end of the day.

 

[Mkhobs]

You discipline an aggressive hen the same as you would an aggressive roo. You restrain her by pushing her to the ground and exerting pressure on her back. This is how chickens demonstrate their superiority over another chicken, so they understand what this means, and that message is that you are the dominant. This should get immediate results.

Hold the hen down until she quits struggling and submits. You can periodically reinforce this by pushing her to the ground every so often regardless. She should have the message embed in her brain by the end of the day.

Haven’t tried that technique. Thanks for the tip. I’ll give that a shot.