My Hen Hates Me

[ranit]

You might give this a try. It was suggested to me for a rooster I had that started getting a little aggressive and seemed to work. Of course my rooster was just a little bantam.
I just picked him up whenever he came at me and then carried him around for awhile holding him where he could not hurt me. After doing this several times he started just ignoring me.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
I've only had to do it once to a jerk rooster who thought he could beat on me like he did his hens, he didn't last long.

 

[ailurophile23]

So sorry to hear you lost the rest of the flock. Sounds like this hen is being dominant - there are lots of good suggestions on how to deal with dominant roosters, some already suggested here. Another one that would be worth a try is "stalking" the problem hen - walk quickly after her for 5 minutes and don't let up. Do this a few times and she may get the idea that you are dominant as this is what a dominant rooster would do. Good luck.

 

[janinepeters]

You might give this a try. It was suggested to me for a rooster I had that started getting a little aggressive and seemed to work. Of course my rooster was just a little bantam.
I just picked him up whenever he came at me and then carried him around for awhile holding him where he could not hurt me. After doing this several times he started just ignoring me.

If I were going to try to rehabilitate her, ranit's suggestion is what I would try. The idea of getting aggressive yourself and showing a chicken who is boss, has been debated here more than once. It sometimes works, but the problem is that it sometimes makes matters worse, escalating aggression in a bird that just won't give in. When you do this, you are engaging him as another chicken, and sometimes he/she won't settle for anything less than top of the peck order. That is what happened when I tried to show an aggressive rooster that I was boss. He got worse and worse and I eventually gave him up for slaughter.

Although I haven't had occasion to try it, ranit's suggestion is appealing because you would not be engaging him as a competitor. Perhaps it would show him/her that you are NOT another chicken (chickens do not pick each other up, after all), and therefore not one to worry about in terms of peck order position.​

 

[sunnysongbird]

aww

make gentle clucking noises at her, or try feeding her some of her favorite foods. Go to a level that is close to the chicken's level and reassure her that you are no threat to her.