She BIT me

[donrae]

Just another pat on the back for stepping up and taking care of your son. It's so frustrating on here to see folks who have aggressive animals (usually roosters, but sometimes hens) who "love them" too much to cull them.

Do not tolerate aggression from any animal. There's no "normal" level of aggression you need to put up with. Not from a chicken, a cat, a dog, a goat, a horse, whatever.

 

[Amina]

I don't think petting your hens means that they will be aggressive. I pet my friendlier hens and they have never so much as pecked me.

I think you just got unlucky.

 

[AmericanMom]

I wont stand for an aggressive animal either...I have never heard of such an ornery aggressive hen...WOW...Kudos to you for doing what you needed to do to protect yourself and your child...


How did she taste??

 

[Beekissed]

I've never heard of a hen that aggressive either. Did have a hen bite me the other day...an unprovoked hen attack for the first time in my life. Now, a broody I can excuse if you are trying to get to her eggs...but just to bite a human for no reason? I've noticed she is bullying the other birds and my cull time is coming up next month. She is the first on the list.

 

[AmericanMom]

I've never heard of a hen that aggressive either. Did have a hen bite me the other day...an unprovoked hen attack for the first time in my life. Now, a broody I can excuse if you are trying to get to her eggs...but just to bite a human for no reason? I've noticed she is bullying the other birds and my cull time is coming up next month. She is the first on the list.

I have a hen who bites if you try and get eggs she is sitting on..lol.. and she aint never broody!!!! she is my loud mouth Ancona...She isn't a bully at all though, actually pretty low on the pecking order so she just doesn't like any ones hand in her nest til she is done...

Works for me

 

[chicksurreal]

I have to say that if I go outside in shorts some of my pullets will come around and politely peck at my legs, sort of like grooming. There is no blood drawn, no serious problems.

Once in a while (maybe twice since I've had them), a pullet will peck once or twice and then peck hard enough to draw a spot of blood. No aggression or "attitude", just a bit too hard with the pecking. I don't see this as a problem, like they are attacking me, I think actually they might be seeing a mole or blemish and think it's something to remove. It just doesn't feel like an attack. They don't continue when I move my leg or walk away. No fluffing of feathers or charging or anything.

How do most people define aggression or attack? I look at it as an attitude or prolonged attempt to be dominant.

 

[NorthChicken]

I wont stand for an aggressive animal either...I have never heard of such an ornery aggressive hen...WOW...Kudos to you for doing what you needed to do to protect yourself and your child...


How did she taste??

She was delicious!

And I also have some of the girls who peck at my clothing or a freckle (or a tattoo on my lower back when I crouch down, they are sure it's food!) and I don't find that aggressive, I just find them being curious.
This hen was another story, she was not being curious, she was being very aggressive and I never thought I would be nervous of a chicken!! But when I saw how quickly she flew up and bit my face, and how she was getting more and more agitated when I was out the other morning with hackles up like a cobra and flying at me with her feet, I realized she was too much of danger for my son to be around. And now I definitely know the difference between a peck and a bite.

Thank you all for the support and making me feel better about what I had to do. I am a bit of a softie when it comes to animals, and I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt when she first bit me that it would be a one time thing. Or I could put her in her place if she did it again, but with how she responded made the decision much easier to make.

 

[GD91]

Wow, I would to

cull her I mean, but only as a last resort (Still, thats just me, I only have four pullets, so I'd value the extra one more.) She may change as she grows - or you could make an example of her.

I had a rooster like that. He had a piece of rope tied to his legs since we used to tie him up.

Anyway, I walked past him one day & he launched at me. I wasn't thinking straight & just picked him up & wandered into the chicken coop & hung him (Upside down) from a screw in the coop while I went about doing feed & water for our lovely pullets.

He hung there looking rather bemused & talking to himself while all the pullets gathered to to laugh at him (I think he was going cross eyed with the blood rush) & I just collected him off the wall & popped him back on his "leash"on my way back into the house.

It really seemed to calm him down.

Then he went for me again the next morning as I passed, heading back towards the home, so I picked him up again & just hung him on the coat hanger in the hallway for 5 minutes.
"There you are boy" I told it "Your gonna stay there until you learn to behave yourself! Bad Peter!"
He looked like "Oh, no! Not this again! I can't fight this, I look stupid!"

Then I called our 4 little ladies to come & have another laugh at him while he hung foolishly.

My DH thought I had gone truly mad when he came home to an upside down rooster hanging from the clothes peg where DH normally puts his hat.

When I let him down he would try to continue acting all majestic.... Yeh, not happening ever lad, not after seeing you upside down like that

But, anyway, the rooster went very sweet after that & never went for me again & is now a housepet that sits on your lap cooing & has been trained not to crow to! So they do change

Not that I would advise people to hang their disobedient roosters, husbands, children etc upside down from the clothes peg in the hallway - but, as I said I wasn't thinking straight & I couldn't be bothered thrashing him when it clearly wasn't working.

Oh, I just read you culled her.... never mind. Hope you enjoyed your dinner

 

[Avlana]

Yes, you cannot take a chance, especially with young children around. As soon as one gets human aggressive, that's it for them. I get rid of them real fast.