She Keeps Pecking at Me!

[rapunzil]

We got 27 chicks from McMurray about 3 weeks ago. A combo of Silver Laced Wyandottes and Aruacanas.

All of the girls are very curious and friendly, and we have been working on handling them. None of them peck at us except for one of the Wyandottes. She dosnt peck at the other birds, just at us humans.

Any tips on how I can get her to stop? Thanx much!

 

[djmooney]

kick her

 

[Ghostchick]

I had 3 SL Wyandottes, 2 died, and now only one. They were the most agressive birds! I think you have to show then you are the boss, boot them a little. Sorry!!!

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
Not nice.



Generally chickens will grow out of the pecking stage when they realize what is edible for sure or not. That one girl is probably overly curious or a slow learner. But she'll grow out of it.

 

[mandelyn]

My game hens peck me instead of food that I'm holding, quite hard too! They're in the taming process, and they're at that point of losing the fear and replacing it with curiosity and seeing what they can do. Yesterday I was holding half of a tomato, and one grabbed everyone of my fingers, pecked at my hand, and finally decided to eat the dang tomato. Or when I'm trying to catch them to hold them, they'll peck at me as I reach for them, but they won't run away any more.

Could be she doesn't have any fear, and is wanting to check you out, or assert dominance if she considers you part of the flock. "Peck" her back in any case, poke her with a finger or swat with your hand. You don't even have to touch her, just make her move away from you.

Once they lose the fear (depending on age, I'm working with 5 month olds) then you can start "pushing" back, so that you're the one in control and they don't grow up to want to flog you when they have chicks. I treat every animal like a dog or a horse... the chickens respond well to it, they're tame, like attention, go back to their house and pop through the gate when I push them that way, eat out of my hand, and they quit bickering with each other when I throw a hand between them. The 2 year old used to be flighty as heck, but I can work with her too so long as I don't actually touch her.

If they're young chicks still... it's just fearlessness.

 

[rapunzil]

Thanx everyone! So far the only thing I have done is pushed her away. Not too hard, just enough for her to get the idea. I don't want to hurt her, she's only 3 weeks old.

 

[wombat]

At 3 weeks, just work on getting her to figure out that she should only peck food, and not hands.

Put some crumble or treats on your hand, and hold your hand all the way open and flat. If she pecks treats, feed her more. If she pecks the hand, the hand and the food go away.

I think 3 weeks is a little young for pushing back or flicking with a finger to discourage pecking, that might be more appropriate at 5-6 weeks ... unless she's really agressive, and not just being curious and pecking indiscriminately to see what happens.

Also, once she's had the positive experience of getting treats, carry her around for a while.

I think Wyndottes vary quite a bit by line. Some are friendly, others can be fairly aggressive.

 

[djmooney]

its not nice to cut a chickens head off either but i do it twice a year and i could care less

i Don,t think giving a chicken a kick is bad at all. I hit a rooster with a stick that was running at me last year and killed him. i didn't mean to but then again i guess he shouldnt be running at me in the first place

 

[speckledhen]

Good grief, are we talking about a chick? Kicking a chick is ridiculous. I raise Delawares. They are a "mouthy" breed, exploring with their beaks alot. When the beak is large enough to grab, scoop up the chick and hold the beak for a few seconds (not covering the nose!) and then put it down. After a few times, that usually breaks the chick of it since it really doesn't want to be manhandled like that. It's gentle but gets the point across. I've broken quite a few birds of that over the last couple of years.

 

[muell112]

I would give her a lot of good attention, lots of treats, and handling - put in the time now while she's still a chick.