I have five 18 week old hens (or will be 18 weeks tomorrow): 3 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 that is presumably a Production Red.
The production red is who we have some trouble with. (you can see a pic of her at 12 weeks here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-gender-do-you-think-this-one-is#post_9023721 )
This hen (who is yet to be named) has been stand-offish (to say the very least) since she was 4 weeks old. Both of my reds have been stand offish their whole lives, and much less friendly than the barred rocks, but our little red hen (that's what we call our rhode island red because she was the runt of our flock when we first got her; she has since grown bigger than all of my chickens) is much more friendly than the un named production red. It has gotten a little better, she comes much closer to us now, so we are able to pick her up, where for the longest time we weren't she just ran circles around us in the run without us being able to catch her. But she is pecking us pretty hard, and not just pecking but biting. I mean it doesn't hurt horrible, and we don't have any little kids around yet so she is not really in danger of hurting anyone. But when I started thinking about getting chickens and reading about it I imagined haveing a flock of chickens who loved me just like I was there own mother. This is not the case with my production red.
Does anyone have any tips or tricks to break a less than friendly hen? Also, is there anything I need to watch out for with her?
On another note, my two reds seem to be maturing MUCH more rapidly than my barred rocks. Since that picture (the one in the link) was taken 6 weeks ago, their wattles and combs are about 3 times the size they were and much MUCH brighter red. Also their wattles and combs are 3 times the size of the barred rocks....should I expect eggs any day?
The production red is who we have some trouble with. (you can see a pic of her at 12 weeks here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-gender-do-you-think-this-one-is#post_9023721 )
This hen (who is yet to be named) has been stand-offish (to say the very least) since she was 4 weeks old. Both of my reds have been stand offish their whole lives, and much less friendly than the barred rocks, but our little red hen (that's what we call our rhode island red because she was the runt of our flock when we first got her; she has since grown bigger than all of my chickens) is much more friendly than the un named production red. It has gotten a little better, she comes much closer to us now, so we are able to pick her up, where for the longest time we weren't she just ran circles around us in the run without us being able to catch her. But she is pecking us pretty hard, and not just pecking but biting. I mean it doesn't hurt horrible, and we don't have any little kids around yet so she is not really in danger of hurting anyone. But when I started thinking about getting chickens and reading about it I imagined haveing a flock of chickens who loved me just like I was there own mother. This is not the case with my production red.
Does anyone have any tips or tricks to break a less than friendly hen? Also, is there anything I need to watch out for with her?
On another note, my two reds seem to be maturing MUCH more rapidly than my barred rocks. Since that picture (the one in the link) was taken 6 weeks ago, their wattles and combs are about 3 times the size they were and much MUCH brighter red. Also their wattles and combs are 3 times the size of the barred rocks....should I expect eggs any day?
