Sebright Bantam Hen Suddenly Aggressive?

[chickens 4 ever]

My one chicken is a beautiful Australorp and the other one..... ummm. I will get back to you about the
other one. What breeds do you have? How many chickens do you have?

 

[chickens 4 ever]

My other chicken is a mix between a Plymouth Rock, and something else.
She is super small. But she looks a lot like a kind of Plymouth Rock....

 

[ClareScifi]

So Little Miss Bossy is a Sebright. That is wonderful!

Merry Etta, my sole Sebright, likes to take on the tomcats. I think she thinks she is a rooster. She will charge them, and they get out of her way.

I believe I overprotected her when she was young. I wouldn't let her out to free-range for the longest time, fearing the cats would think she was a small wild bird and kill her, and this made her mad. So she escaped.one day and hid all day long, making me believe something had gotten her, to punish me, I do believe. Then she came out of hiding in the evening as if to say, "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na! See! I can make it just fine out in the open all day long!" So she taught me a valuable lesson about size discrimination." But she was confined many weeks after the bigger hens were out free-ranging, and I doubt she has forgiven me for keeping her cooped up all that time.

Do you have other Sebrights or only Miss Bossy?

My big rooster sometimes tries to mate with her, and this really worries me. I had thought I could keep her outside most of the time, away from him, but if she starts this foot-charging bit again, I'll have to keep her confined with him. Which means I'll have to keep the bigger girls in all the time, too, so he doesn't mate exclusively with the Sebright, because I'm afraid he could hurt her. She doesn't seem to mind when he mates with her, other than squawking loudly, and so far there appears to have been no damage done.

I've heard of cases where Banties and big roosters can co-exist just fine, but I've heard of other cases where big roosters have really hurt little Banties. Have you had any experiences with this, either way?

 

[chickens 4 ever]

OH WAIT!! She's a White Leghorn! Sorry, I forgot the name! Yes White Leghorn, and a mix I THINK with a Plymouth
Rock...... So ya

 

[ClareScifi]

Thanks for the info, Chickens 4 Ever.

I have two half white leghorns. They are so intelligent-- great escape artists! Thinkers... One is half Buff Orpington, I believe, and the other is half Rhode Island Red, I believe. They are on the flighty side but darling girls.

The StepMama hen is 2, a Barred Rock. My Bantam gets on her nerves. She chases her and pecks at her more than she does at the other big hens, although they get on her nerves from time to time, and she will chase and peck at them, especially when she thinks they are stealing too many of the fresh greens out of my hands that she wants for herself. She's my best eater.

And then there's Baby, my rooster. I am told his father was a white leghorn, but he has feathers the color of a Buff Orpington and silvery blue hackles and silver-blue wings and silver-blue tail. I don't know what his mother was. Perhaps a Buff Orpington, but the blue has me baffled, so I'm thinking maybe his mother was an Easter Egger/Aracauna, my best guess?

 

[chickens 4 ever]

Oh cool! It sounds like you have really gorgeous chickens! I'm sure she has a good appetite!
So have you found anything on why my chicken is so aggressive? Not to be pushy, but I
really want to get to the bottom of this if you know what I mean...... So if you DO find anything
and if you could tell me, that would be GREAT help! Thank you so much for all your help

!!!!

 

[ClareScifi]

Chickens 4 Ever,

Could it be that they are flighty and don't like to be held, and that's why they peck and bite? Once in a while when I pick my rooster up for time-out, he doesn't like it and will peck/bite at my shoulder. Usually he's okay with being held and calms right down, but once in a while it doesn't suit him.

My half-leghorn girls are flighty and don't like to be held, and neither does my Sebright. My Barred Rock will let me hold her, but she's not crazy about it.

Only my rooster really loves to be held and sung lullabyes to. I raised him inside, so he's very tame, but he can get feisty with me and peck me. That is common amongst roosters raised by hand. Did you raise your girl who pecks and bites inside the house?

 

[chickens 4 ever]

No she was raised.... Well as a chick she slept in my room in a big box, but ya... She is outside presently, she has been raised outside for at least one year even longer..
What do you mean by flighty? Do most of your chickens cooperate? I think I should just not hold her for awhile and pay more attention to Cheep ( my other chicken) until she cools off or
something.. What do you think of that?

 

[ClareScifi]

Someone just posted, Chickens 4 Ever, in regard to my Sebright personality question in another thread, that she finds Sebrights can be aggressive if you don't handle them enough. She handled hers from a young age and they fly on her shoulder and are not aggressive. So who knows?

Flighty means they are skittish and run and fly away from you a lot as if they are scared of you.

I found 2 eggs in my Sebright's nest box today. Maybe she was a bit eggbound yesterday or having some trouble laying her egg, or wanting to lay it when I stepped into her territory? She was just fine today, not a bit aggressive. She must have laid her egg late yesterday and then another today.

She's always done odd things. One night she slept under the nesting box, scaring me to death. I thought something was wrong with her. But the next morning she was just fine. She got the girls started laying under the nest boxes, for privacy. She used to like to lay her eggs inside the sleeves of fleece-lined jackets and the folds of blankets, before I removed them. She has a lot of unique personality traits.

I think it would be good to try an experiment, like you say, and try not holding your girl and see whether she cools off a bit. Keep us posted as to how that goes; okay?

 

[chickens 4 ever]

Okay ill keep you posted! Thank you so much! Your chicken sounds really funny!
Im glad that you girl, whats her name? Well I'm glad your girl is a ok!!!!!!!! THANKS