My hen doesnt play nice.....

[nuttyredhead]

I have 23 week old Amberlinks and 11-13 week old Bantam Brahma and Brahma/Silkie crosses. The other day I had 2 of the younger ones out for a little free range (supervised!). Well on of the Amberlinks, Vilma was out too. She ran right up to the little one and grabbed her by the back of the neck..... This is also the same hen who ran up and bit me. This was either for taking the eggs from the nest or petting one of her sisters.

Is this normal????

 

[ranchhand]

Yes.

 

[crawfordmama]

One of my girls who is battling for alpha hen status growls at me when I pick her or anyone else up or pet them. She holds a grudge, too. She'll walk around for a while squawking a disgruntled tone. They all gang up on my little ones at one point while they're out free ranging. I always supervise when they're all together, and spend a lot of time intercepting so no one gets hurt.

 

[Just_Clucky84]

I have a RIR hen named Penny who sometimes has an "attitude." She's not very big, but its funny when she gets "mad." She has a tendency to get underfoot and a few times she's bitten me for bumping into her or almost stepping on her. She'll puff up her tail and go after my shoe. It doesn't hurt or anything and the dirty looks she gives me are priceless. Many people don't believe me when I tell them about Penny's "personality". I guess they're just used to thinking of chickens as food and not as pets. I've been making a point now of petting her and picking her up on a daily basis. I reward her for friendly behavior with treats. So far it seems to be working.

 

[gryeyes]

Because I have several groups of chickens - added batches of 4 chicks at a time about a month apart from each other - I get to watch the pecking order in action a lot.

I've taken a great deal of precaution in integrating the groups so there's no bloodshed or injury. They get along, but they do hang out in their own little groups of coop-mates. Four coops, four "gangs" of chickens, so to speak.

As each group integrated, the lowest in rank of each preceding group let the newcomers know SHE was Above Them in the pecking order. I really notice it when I feed them treats from my hands.

Greta, BSL, is above all the newcomers, except for Betsy, BR, who oddly enough "jumped" rungs and is allowed to hang out with and eat out of the same hand as ANY of the top 3 hens (EE, BO, CM) when I offer treats. Lola, bantam cochin, is above Delilah Delaware! And Gilda. And all the other bantams. (Lola coops with 3 bantam roosters and she is like their den-mother.) Molly, BA, is below Lola, but Betsy will let Molly join her to eat out of my hand. Lola won't push Betsy, but she will peck at Molly.

Right now, I think Emma or Angel, both bantam EEs, who are cooped with Molly and Nugget, a bantam cochin roo, are equal in "lowest" status. Joy and Alice - Sebrights - are as shy, but they are "protected and sheltered" by Delilah, who takes care of them and Gilda.

It's interesting to watch. Lola will run after a lower ranking pullet to chase her away from treats, allowing another couple of girls to dash in and get some goodies. Until Lola gets back.

Lola just doesn't act as sweetly as one would imagine a big, fluffy basketball of feathers to act.