Mother hen getting increasingly aggressive with me

[SweetieChicken234]

This hen was fine. Never a problem. She was fine when she was sitting the eggs. She was fine when the eggs hatched. She's fine with me holding chicks. When I come to bring her food and clean out her water she goes insane. She bites me and attacks me like a rooster would. I do not understand this hen. She will let me hold a chick but the second she sees food it's attack mode. She's drawn blood on my hands and arm and I'm about over it. These chicks are a week and a half old. Her aggression with me is getting worse. It's very unpleasant. It's hot and I wonder if the heat is irritating her. I can't even touch the water container and she goes right for my hands. I leave plenty of food and 2 water containers in the coop with her. She isn't lacking for feed and she has plenty of water which looks like she doesn't drink it.

 

[Folly's place]

She's being a good mama hen! Is this her first time with chicks? She may do better when she's more relaxed about everything. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, shoes or boots, jeans, gloves, and be aware! Wounds are not good...
Can you do her food and water at night when she's settled in?
I like have chicks raised by broody hens, because they learn how to manage life sooner, and are protected by her. The downside is that these chicks may be less 'human social' than others, not an issue for me, I don't need cuddly chickens.
When she's done being 'mama' things will settle down, and treats will help get her chicks less fearful of you.
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I could be wrong here, but it seems like you are changing the entire flock dynamic by constantly handling the chicks. Is that really necessary?
The only time I've had a problem is when I needed to handle chicks which I rarely needed to do. I kept water founts and feeders full, let the hens raise their chicks, let the roosters protect their respective flocks, never handling birds except at night or when absolutely necessary. Let chickens be chickens and me be me.
After all, we aren't discussing people here, they are Galliformes with a set of rules based on genetics and evolution. They have distinctly different social structures that don't resemble that of humans. Smart animals but they don't conform to our wishes.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

She's being a good mama hen! Is this her first time with chicks? She may do better when she's more relaxed about everything. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, shoes or boots, jeans, gloves, and be aware! Wounds are not good...
Can you do her food and water at night when she's settled in?
I like have chicks raised by broody hens, because they learn how to manage life sooner, and are protected by her. The downside is that these chicks may be less 'human social' than others, not an issue for me, I don't need cuddly chickens.
When she's done being 'mama' things will settle down, and treats will help get her chicks less fearful of you.
Mary

I usually check food and water in the morning when I get home from work. It's extremely hot and humid here and mother hen tends to keep kicking wood shavings in the water. I elevated one water for the hen but I kept the chick water on the coop floor for the chicks. It's too hot to be without water here. That's why I check twice. This is her first time with chicks. I did expect maybe some of that was the issue. I also was worried with the heat. She's a Wyandotte in Florida. Wrong state for this poor bird. She has to be so uncomfortable.

Ive tried to bring treats like egg yolk, which she loves. Blueberries, strawberries and thing alike acerola cherries from my tree. Those are her favorite. I have a 'screen' door on the coop (hardware cloth) and she does better when I push the fruits through the hardware cloth. It kind of takes the edge off but she still gets bitey when I come in. I was hoping she was just being a mother hen and will return to normal when the chicks are grown.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I could be wrong here, but it seems like you are changing the entire flock dynamic by constantly handling the chicks. Is that really necessary?
The only time I've had a problem is when I needed to handle chicks which I rarely needed to do. I kept water founts and feeders full, let the hens raise their chicks, let the roosters protect their respective flocks, never handling birds except at night or when absolutely necessary. Let chickens be chickens and me be me.
After all, we aren't discussing people here, they are Galliformes with a set of rules based on genetics and evolution. They have distinctly different social structures that don't resemble that of humans. Smart animals but they don't conform to our wishes.

I don't handle the chicks constantly. More like the odd chick here and there. Not every chick every day. I have no intent to keep most of these chicks. Maybe one. I am going to rehome the pullets once they are grown. I don't need to handle them.