My hen attacked me?

[CochinBeauties]

Shes not even a year old and I constantly carry her so she is used to me! I give her treats also so she doesnt see me as a threat. She just started attacking me out of nowhere and now I have a gash on my face from her biting me. Why did she do that? Ive heard of aggressive chickens but this is ridiculous!
She used to fight my rooster, but she has recently stopped that. She has turned to attacking me now. If she continues this I fear I may have to get rid of her because she was very strong. How do i change this behavior?

 

[Judy]

A chicken's natural behavior is to forage -- to peck and scratch on the ground. I suspect she will not bother you if you allow her to do this.

 

[theoldchick]

I guess she doesn't want to be carried about anymore. Seriously, keep her away from your face. If she's chasing you about you need to start thinking about removing her from your flock. She's no longer a pet and will continue to assert her dominance over you. And make sure she's a hen and not a cockerel.

 

[CochinBeauties]

I do allow her to do that, however I try to make sure all of my chickens can see me and know Im not a threat. None of my others are having this issue, even my rooster is more gentle than her.

 

[CochinBeauties]

She is definitely a hen, she lays eggs

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm posting this info I gave in a previous thread regarding a rooster who had recently started flogging his people. Your gal, is having similar issues, and needs a dominance check. I'd handle her the same way:

I would not hand feed this bad boy. He is having some serious issues with dominance... he wants to dominate all members of his flock, and that includes you and your children. It's your job to give him a reality check. You can not be his "friend". You have to be his master. This is accomplished by speaking to him in chicken speak. When you walk among your flock, never go around him. Walk through him. Make him get out of your way. Carry a small stick about 3 - 4' long. Use it as a guiding tool to encourage him to move along in what ever direction you want him to go. Give him several lessons/day where you guide him around, guide him away from the food while the hens eat, guide him in/out of the coop. Basically, you TELL HIM WHERE HE CAN AND CAN"T GO, and WHEN HE CAN EAT. This is what a dominant roo does to his underlings. You need to be the dominant roo, as do your children. If he does not heed this training, step it up a notch. Grab him by the scruff of the neck, and hold his head down to the ground. Hold him there until he stops struggling, then continue to hold him down. When you let go, he should stay frozen there for a bit. If he doesn't, continue to hold him down until he does. Alternately, you can pick him up, and hold him in one arm, while using the other hand to hold his head down below his chest. Continue this hold until he submits and keeps his head down willingly. Again, this is what a dominant roo does. If your children are old enough to do the stick training, have them do that with your supervision. I'd give him a week or two of training, and see how it goes. If he becomes submissive to all humans, I'd allow him to stay. If after a couple of weeks working with him, he still shows human aggressive tendencies, I'd put him in the soup pot. I don't lay claim to any of these teaching methods, but want to give credit to all the excellent mentors on BYC who have offered these and other methods.