Oooh, what a rotten little bird!

[GallusGal]

I'm very amused by my little TSC rescue with aspiration pneumonia. S/he has recovered beautifully with some warmth and antibiotics, but I have not been able to place her with the other chick yet. Why? She's VICIOUS! If I try to have them both out on my lap at once, she immeditely starts trying to peck the other bird's eyes. What's more, she's very fresh with me, too! She has already stabbed her little beak into my ear, bitten my teeth a few times, and constantly bites my fingernails/wedding ring/moles/buttons. She's also extremely bold - doesn't run away like the other chicks, has no qualms climbing all over me and checking out what I'm doing. She even walked down my forearm today and started biting the keys to my laptop as I typed. I think she's just curious; I had a hen like her years ago who acted exactly the same way as a chick. The problem is that she never grew out of it; the other birds hated her and drove her off because she was always inappropriately picking at their toes, eyes, and wattles, and well into adulthood she continued to try prying off my fingernails, rip off scabs and moles, steal buttons and jewlery, etc. I'm hoping she grows out of the habit or can be trained out of it, as I don't want to have to build a THIRD enclosure for her, the little brat.

Anyone else ever end up with a bratty, socially inappropriate baby?

 

[heather112588]

No, ive never had that (at least as a chick- ive had a bold wyndotte hen... forgive my spelling) but just out of curiousity, what breed is it?

 

[Cetawin]

LOL Sounds like a cute problem. Some breeds are worse than others but Delaware babies are extremely nosey and curious and even as adults they are the same....they bite to get attention and if you ignore them, they nip you again. Very friendly birds though. So you gal sounds like she is just exploring....time to start treating her like a toddler Grab her up and say NO and if she bites, hold her beak and tell her No and just keep at it...hopefully she will get the idea.

BTW I am glad she is recovering so well.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Yes, he grew into a handsome rooster named Marilyn. He knows his name and his nickname - Mare-mare and comes to both

You can teach her the word ouch. When she pecks hard give her a light tap on the beak and say ouch a bit loud.


Manners are generally taught to the chicks by the mother hen. So it is up to you to teach her what is ok and what is not.


For me - pecking me hard is not ok. A light peck - out of curiosity is ok.


For me - jumping into my lap is ok. Jumping/climbing up my back to sit on my shoulder is not.

 

[tinychicky]

i have a leghorn like that

i made the mistake of raising her alone (not to mention she's a LEGHORN the most unsocial of breeds in my experience

) and now she only gets along with my rooster, darkflight. with most coops, you'd think you'd want to be more wary of the rooster attacking you, but darkflight is such a sweetie, be comes up and cuddles with you. mean while, june,the leghorn, is attacking you're boots

i wouldn't keep her if she were'nt such an amazing show bird, she won best standard hen at a show last year, and such a great layer! she picks on other chickens, darkflight included, accept he doesn't mind he just puts up with her. try tapping her head next time she pecks you. don't "peck" too hard, but enough to get the message across that if she pecks you, she will get pecked back, just like a mother hen or other chicks would normally teach her, just like puppies and kittens learn from playing with thier siblings not to bite too hard.