Pullet Police?!

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

Hello, hopefully someone can help me out here:

We have 9 pullets that have been together since day 1 of life, 5 RIRs and 4 Australorps. One Australorp may be a cockerel, but s/he is not the chicken I have a question about. We have one chicken which is definitely more assertive than the others, more outgoing and adventurous, usually the first to do anything. She is one of the friendliest with us and will jump up on our laps and shoulders when we least expect it. She likes the attention and to be pet, it seems.

In the last week or so she has been doing something new though. If we pick up or hold another chicken she comes over and pecks at our hands and sometimes the chicken we are holding. Like I said otherwise she is friendly and likes attention from us. But the hand-pecking when we have another chicken is fairly aggressive. Is she jealous and doesn't want us to give attention to the other bird or does she think she needs to protect it from us? That doesn't totally make sense to me as a reason since she has no fear of us and enjoys being pet or perching on us.

So... why is she doing this and how do I stop her? So far I have just been telling her no sharply and pushing her away when she does it. But since she is not a dog I figured I should ask the pros!

Any help would be great!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

She is probably a he, but could be a dominant female.

S/he is showing dominance. Pure and simple. She/he has set him/herself up to be "alpha' even over you.

Stop hand feeding this bird and loving on it so much. Handle the others more, and gently but firmly shoo this one off.

Do not let it peck at you or jump up on you as it wills as it will only become more aggressive in time.

If it remains very aggressive, you can isolate it (chicken "prison") for a time, with simply food and water and not a lot of attention. Then, reintroduce it to the flock. That often removes them from the top of the pecking order.

If not, you may have an overly aggressive bird which you may desire to re-home.

But usually simply not allowing it to boss you around is all it takes.

Chickens have pecking orders that must be strictly followed. They don't have family affection like you and I think of.

LofMc

 

[rIrs roost]

I have a hen that will jump in my lap and push the other one off of my lap. I think that they do sometimes get jealous. Also if she's the head hen she may be trying to show dominance to the others. As far as not being a dog, I also have a roo that chases cars out of our driveway.

 

[Abriana]

I have a hen just like that, minus the pecking, but she respects me even though she hops up on me at will, but moves when i need her to. I think the "she" is probably a "he" or as said above, dominant.

 

[Abriana]

I have a hen that will jump in my lap and push the other one off of my lap. I think that they do sometimes get jealous. Also if she's the head hen she may be trying to show dominance to the others. As far as not being a dog, I also have a roo that chases cars out of our driveway.

Ha, ha! Thats so funny. He probably thinks, "Yeah, they're scared of me. Cars lose, i win." Lol

 

[rIrs roost]

Ha, ha! Thats so funny. He probably thinks, "Yeah, they're scared of me. Cars lose, i win." Lol

exactly lol . I crack up everytime company leaves and he chases their car. He chases ours too. Crazy roo lol

 

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

She is probably a he, but could be a dominant female.

S/he is showing dominance. Pure and simple. She/he has set him/herself up to be "alpha' even over you.

Stop hand feeding this bird and loving on it so much. Handle the others more, and gently but firmly shoo this one off.

Do not let it peck at you as it will only become more aggressive in time.

If it remains very aggressive, you can isolate it (chicken "prison") for a time, with simply food and water and not a lot of attention. Then, reintroduce it to the flock. That often removes them from the top of the pecking order.

If not, you may have an overly aggressive bird which you may desire to re-home.

But usually simply not allowing it to boss you around is all it takes.

Chickens have pecking orders that must be strictly followed. They don't have family affection like you and I think of.

LofMc

Thank you for this response, I will give her less attention, continue to not tolerate the pecking, stop hand feeding her and give the other birds more attention

On the subject of roosters - what do you guys do if you unintentionally have a rooster? Castrate it? Leave it be? Our birds are for egg consumption, not breeding or meat.

Stipulation: no chickens will be
a) eaten/culled (unless disease/injury requires euthanasia by vet)
b) re-homed

The reason for this is that we are animal lovers and do not want to have any of our birds killed, it would break our (bleeding) hearts.
We don't want to give any up as they have become precious pets and you really can never be sure that someone who says they aren't going to eat a bird doesn't do just that the minute they get home with it.

Thanks for suggestions!

 

[Abriana]

Just leave the bird if it is a he. Roosters are good protectors and if you want baby chicks, you don't have to order them, you can just hatch some.

 

[Kiki]

Could you possible post a few pictures of said bird?

 

[newlyaddicted2chickens]

Just leave the bird if it is a he. Roosters are good protectors and if you want baby chicks, you don't have to order them, you can just hatch some.

That is what I am leaning towards. We live in the middle of nowhere so crowing bothering our neighbors won't be an issue. But my fiancée thinks the eggs will be weird. I told her that not all are fertilized and even if they are all you may see is a tiny white spot as long as they are collected in a timely manner. Yes?