She bit me

[Rosey516]

Hi everyone, I am so insulted my girls are 20 weeks and very friendly but today as I was walking in the yard the came running as usual but I accident walked into my Rhode Island Red she fluffed up and bit my hand .. so I just bent down to pet her and she fluffed again and bit me again.. I just kept talking and petting her and she calmed down .. is this normal behavior geez I hardly touched her.. I feel so bad now that she doesn't trust me..

 

[BW56]

My RIR bit me once and I forced her to bite my finger over and over until she saw it did no good and I picked her up. I also spread my arms out like they do their wings to let them know I'm bigger and the boss. So what ever their doing at that time they stop and settle down. I don't handle them often but I can snatch eggs out from under any of them with no more than a stink eye.

 

[Dmontgomery]

You maybe just scared her. She will be fine tomorrow. Think how you would feel if something 10 times larger than you ran in to you. Scary huh? I have a drama queen dog like that. Screams if she thinks you are going to accidentally step on her.

 

[Howard E]

Not to worry. RIR's are your gal pals. Cut up an apple tomorrow and hold bits of it out in your and and see if she doesn't come around. Hold it steady and don't flinch.

 

[Howard E]

I will throw out another theory and if I"m wrong, don't hesitate to correct me but is it possible the bird in question is attempting to assert herself in the pecking order and that includes establishing dominance over you? We know roosters will do that, but what about bossy hens?

Something to consider and be aware of.

 

[donrae]

I'm going to be more blunt than Howard.

Your hen is bossing you around, and doing a great job of it. You're letting her call the shots and be the boss of you.

It's not that she doesn't trust you.She's not mad at you. It's that she now knows she can tell you what to do, and you'll do it.




Don't let her peck you anymore. For a while, that may mean not letting her get close enough to touch you. You're the human, you decide when she comes close to you and when she does not. For now, she does not. Shoo her away, chase her off, whatever you need to do. You're not going to scare her or make her afraid of you. You will make her respect you, and that's a good thing. Don't hand feed her for a while. After a few days of not letting her close to you or giving her treats, pick her up. If she pecks at you, flick or thump her with your finger. That's not allowed, ever. When she's settled down, you decide when to put her down. She does not decide, you decide. Pick her up when you want, put her down when you want. Eventually, after a few weeks, you can try hand feeding her treats again. If ever she pecks you, flick or thump her, and don't mess around with it. Do it seriously enough she doesn't want to be around you. It's exactly what she would do to another chicken.

Lots of folks want to treat chickens as pets, but their brains are more livestock than pets. They just don't think the same as say dogs do.

Again, she will NOT be afraid of you, but she will respect you.

 

[Shezadandy]

Ok so she bit me again I was feeding one of the other girls and she came and started biting me !! This is ridiculous should I just feed the rest and not her? I think she is the Alpha of the pack ..

You're dealing with a hormonal teenager who's trying to take over the whole household. She's not only biting you, she's committing far worse a trespass- she's also at the very least kicking you and possibly starting the beginning of flogging you with her wings. She's treating you like you're a low-ranking chicken.

You're well past the trust-building part of your relationship- they know you and that you bring good things. It's a little like having a puppy- at first the puppy explores everything with its mouth, then it gets bigger and stronger and now it's biting, not exploring. While they look so much more grown up now compared with their adorable chick selves, they'll only be getting stronger and heavier- they're not done growing at 20 weeks, even as much as they've changed.

My suggestions to correct the situation: First and foremost, no more sitting on the ground to feed treats. You're putting your face and eyes at a level where one of these times she could easily jump up and cause damage. Second, no more hand-feeding. It's time to disconnect your hands and the food. Instead, bring their treats in the same container every time, then the container will mean treats instead of your hands. If they haven't already thought about pecking you when you reach in to handle them (because hand=treat and they don't care that they're biting you), it's likely to happen.

This doesn't mean cease and desist treat-giving, just no more hand feeding, and no more sitting on the ground to give them treats. Your chickens will enjoy their treats just as much from the ground. They'll still come running when they see you. First comes establishing yourself as the CONTROLLER of the treats, not the peckable treat dispenser.

Think of yourself as the granny chicken who gets her pick of everything before any other chicken dares approach the food. She pecks them and chases them off, has her fill, and only when she's good and ready do others consider approaching. Just because there's food to be had doesn't mean the youngsters get to run her over, bite her, scratch her to get it.

Use your index and middle finger as a beak. A peck to the head or back is speaking chicken and it means I'm the boss, not you. Nobody pecks the boss.

Pick a treat, put it on the ground, and then defend it like you're granny hen and that's the last food you're getting for the week. Anyone who comes in to nab it gets a "bite" on the back- you'll probably find they won't believe you at first. No anger or frustration behind it, just setting down new rules. They'll get the treat- when you decide to give it to them.

You may want to wear gloves/long sleeves/jeans and maybe even some eye protection the first time you do this with your naughty chicken. Have plenty of time when you do this for the first time. She will probably fight back- she already sees you as a subordinate chicken. That cannot continue. So, be prepared for her to challenge your leadership.

It probably won't be a whole lot of fun, but neither is having a chicken that treats you like this!

 

[Shezadandy]

Thank you so much shezadandy, actually I was a little intimidated she is pretty big and does hurt a bit.. I will do what you say it's a shame cause the others are so good.. but I quess I have to show all I am the boss.. these are my first chicks and I am learning so much , but I never thought they would challenge me lol well I will get on this right away and thank you..

You are welcome. Chances are good that you'll only have to sort things out with the one that's biting and kicking. The rest will probably fall into line behind her, especially given that none of the others are coming after you. I also hand-fed and sat with our first group of chicks - not so much sat when they were older, but still hand-fed -- then I ended up with 2 that did very much the same thing you're going through, except they would jump up from the ground to bite my hand when I'd open things up for treats. Now, they could easily have reached the treat, but chose to tag my hand instead. One always emerges the lead hen, and it's usually that one that will do what your girl is doing-- because she's already had this fight with her flockmates and won the fight, so they don't challenge her anymore. If she wasn't there, it would probably have been one of the others!!

 

[americanchicks]

A quick tap is what I do if my hens get unruly. I just use two fingers and give them a strong tap to the base of the neck. Very seldom have to do it. Did have to use it when we got the new chicks. When the adults would get to aggressive to the youngsters I would give them a "peck" to let them know who's boss. They would quickly back off. Doing this made me more of mamma to the chicks too. After I would chase the bad old big birds away the babies would follow me anywhere I went.

 

[Rosey516]

Thanks...