My chicken attacked me...

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Here is my Parsley.

Looks like a sexually maturing hen. She's probably quite hormonal. So I would guess the attack was her trying to dominate you. Best to not handle her too much and push her back if she becomes too forward. Hopefully she calms down after she starts laying. Most do.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is a pullet (girl)
As she comes up to laying, (and going by how red her comb is, the first egg might not be far away) all her hormones will be going into overdrive, which could be the cause for the aggression.
I would try and be more hands off with her, don't handle her except for necessary health checks, until she has matured a bit more.

Sorry should have read your post before posting mine. You had already covered it all.

 

[BunnyChickenMomma]

Looks like a sexually maturing hen. She's probably quite hormonal. So I would guess the attack was her trying to dominate you. Best to not handle her too much and push her back if she becomes too forward. Hopefully she calms down after she starts laying. Most do.

Should I "peck" her back when she attacks? This morning I was with the girls and she went for my hand every time she saw it. I was petting the others and taking the caps off their feeder and she would come at me. I was reading other threads where folks recommended "pecking" an aggressive chicken back. Would bopping her back make things better or worse?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Should I "peck" her back when she attacks? This morning I was with the girls and she went for my hand every time she saw it. I was petting the others and taking the caps off their feeder and she would come at me. I was reading other threads where folks recommended "pecking" an aggressive chicken back. Would bopping her back make things better or worse?

Since I'm kinda slow, and could never accomplish pecking a chicken back, I personally carry something like a broom, or my fishing net to shoo chickens off if they get forward, and aggressive like that.

The net works good for me because I often scoop them up, and hold them in the net for a bit before releasing them. They don't like it and will soon learn to stay back. I'm not interested in overly friendly birds.

I have read the pecking back works, but I'm not personally familiar with the technique.

 

[Sussex19]

Should I "peck" her back when she attacks? This morning I was with the girls and she went for my hand every time she saw it. I was petting the others and taking the caps off their feeder and she would come at me. I was reading other threads where folks recommended "pecking" an aggressive chicken back. Would bopping her back make things better or worse?

I do that to 'over friendly' cockerels sometimes, and it has never made anything worse.
Just use one finger, and bring it down fairly hard, like an angry hens beak.
Stop doing it if it is not helping, or if it makes it worse.

 

[Folly's place]

If you can, pecking does help. 'Peckpeckpeck' fast as you can, hard enough to offend the bird, not to cause injuries. And don't hand feed, make at least this bird get out of your path at all times, and you can 'accidently' bump her with a bucket or whatever if she's in your path.
Is this bird top of the pecking order? In a same aged flock, no adults are there to knock her down a peg either. Consider moving her on to another flock where she has to work her way back up, and has adults to correct her behaviors.
If you keep her, be aware of her rude behaviors, and don't put up with any guff.
Mary

 

[BunnyChickenMomma]

If you can, pecking does help. 'Peckpeckpeck' fast as you can, hard enough to offend the bird, not to cause injuries. And don't hand feed, make at least this bird get out of your path at all times, and you can 'accidently' bump her with a bucket or whatever if she's in your path.
Is this bird top of the pecking order? In a same aged flock, no adults are there to knock her down a peg either. Consider moving her on to another flock where she has to work her way back up, and has adults to correct her behaviors.
If you keep her, be aware of her rude behaviors, and don't put up with any guff.
Mary

Thank you! I will try the 'peckpeckpeck' strategy and take no sass! She's actually at the bottom of the pecking order, from what I can tell. When she came at me this morning, the top hen (Thyme) got between us and put her in her place a few times (I joked that she was defending my honor ).

 

[Chickenma2021]

This exact thing happened with one of my hens. Sofia is just really sassy and pecks me when she's not in the mood. Blanch only attacks if I touch another hen. After a while you will often pick up on patterns and figure out why. This is the first time I've heard of "strategies" though This is hilarious.

 

[First time Chick mom]

Not sure if this will help, but I have 5 EE and three turned out to be cockerels. They are 15 weeks old and in the last 2 week have started biting at me and running at me when I open the run door. I have a German Shepard, that would love to have them for dinner, so I can't have that. Handled and raised them from 2 days old, so you can imagine I was devastated. So, I decided I needed to take control and pinned them down and make them submit to me (I was forceful, not did not hurt them). One of them is around 9 lbs. big boy (yes, I was a little scared!! LOL) When they finally calmed down and submitted, I would pick them up and carry them and pet them and talk to them in a gentle voice. It has worked so far. Not sure if it will work with a pullet?? (I am new at this and learning as I go). I had to do this twice with my big boy, he will back up when I open the gate and gives me space, then flops down on my feet to get pets. All this was advice I got on this forum, and it worked well so far for me.

 

[BunnyChickenMomma]

Not sure if this will help, but I have 5 EE and three turned out to be cockerels. They are 15 weeks old and in the last 2 week have started biting at me and running at me when I open the run door. I have a German Shepard, that would love to have them for dinner, so I can't have that. Handled and raised them from 2 days old, so you can imagine I was devastated. So, I decided I needed to take control and pinned them down and make them submit to me (I was forceful, not did not hurt them). One of them is around 9 lbs. big boy (yes, I was a little scared!! LOL) When they finally calmed down and submitted, I would pick them up and carry them and pet them and talk to them in a gentle voice. It has worked so far. Not sure if it will work with a pullet?? (I am new at this and learning as I go). I had to do this twice with my big boy, he will back up when I open the gate and gives me space, then flops down on my feet to get pets. All this was advice I got on this forum, and it worked well so far for me.

I'm new at this, too! I'm glad to hear it is working for your roos. I've been doing the 'peckpeckpeck' thing and picking her up and holding her until she is calm. I'm going to keep trying and try to pin her next time she takes a swipe at me. Thanks.