Hi! I'm wondering why my chicken is biting me out of nowhere!
I'm new to raising chickens. I think it's been pretty OK for me so far. I own five currently! I sit with them, pet them, and let them walk on me.
I have one rooster(?*I think he's a rooster because he's been crowing a lot lately!) in particular that would at first be completely OK with me petting him and picking him up. He would jump on me occasionally and let me pet him with no problems. The weird part is: even after all of the gentle walking on my arms and practically napping in my lap, suddenly when he walks onto my hands--he'll start biting me!!! I have no idea why.
I tend to use my other hand to gently push his neck away from biting my finger, and I'll pick him up and put him somewhere else. But he comes right back--seemingly affectionate! As if he never bit me in the first place.
He's normally so well behaved that I couldn't believe it the first time he bit me. Actually, he's relatively docile! He's usually the one who backs off first from belly bumps and pecking from the others. I rarely see him peck or attack any-chicken else. Now I'm wary of having my hands near him, but he still tries to perch on my arm and shoulder, or sleep in my lap.
He hasn't drawn blood from biting me yet since he's pretty young (two months), but I don't want to get to that point!
What kind of behavior is this? What can I do to mitigate his biting? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!!!
-Anne, First time chicken owner.
I'm new to raising chickens. I think it's been pretty OK for me so far. I own five currently! I sit with them, pet them, and let them walk on me.
I have one rooster(?*I think he's a rooster because he's been crowing a lot lately!) in particular that would at first be completely OK with me petting him and picking him up. He would jump on me occasionally and let me pet him with no problems. The weird part is: even after all of the gentle walking on my arms and practically napping in my lap, suddenly when he walks onto my hands--he'll start biting me!!! I have no idea why.
I tend to use my other hand to gently push his neck away from biting my finger, and I'll pick him up and put him somewhere else. But he comes right back--seemingly affectionate! As if he never bit me in the first place.
He's normally so well behaved that I couldn't believe it the first time he bit me. Actually, he's relatively docile! He's usually the one who backs off first from belly bumps and pecking from the others. I rarely see him peck or attack any-chicken else. Now I'm wary of having my hands near him, but he still tries to perch on my arm and shoulder, or sleep in my lap.
He hasn't drawn blood from biting me yet since he's pretty young (two months), but I don't want to get to that point!
What kind of behavior is this? What can I do to mitigate his biting? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!!!
-Anne, First time chicken owner.
