Stop chickens from pecking your legs

[Old Spice]

My chickens developed a bad habit. They think I'm made out of food so they were constantly pecking my legs. Even through my jeans it often hurt. It's surprising how hard they can pinch. I cut two pieces of roof flashing the right size to wrap around my legs under my pant legs. When I went in their coop they each pecked me once and never did it again! I was really surprised. That has been months ago and they have never started back! I've never had trouble with them eating eggs because I keep some fake eggs in their nest-boxes. This must be the same principle.

 

[RoyalChick]

My chickens developed a bad habit. They think I'm made out of food so they were constantly pecking my legs. Even through my jeans it often hurt. It's surprising how hard they can pinch. I cut two pieces of roof flashing the right size to wrap around my legs under my pant legs. When I went in their coop they each pecked me once and never did it again! I was really surprised. That has been months ago and they have never started back! I've never had trouble with them eating eggs because I keep some fake eggs in their nest-boxes. This must be the same principle.

Hilarious.
I may have to try that.
Mine peck my backside through the slats in my lawn chair.
Hmmm.

 

[FrostRanger]

I just either flinch or give mine a gentle peck if they peck too hard. The result is they still pick at me, but they're usually gentle when they do

 

[Old Spice]

Hilarious.
I may have to try that.
Mine peck my backside through the slats in my lawn chair.
Hmmm.

I wonder if maybe some cardboard would also work. It would certainly be more comfortable. If it's under your clothes they won't see it until they have learned their lesson. It really surprised me how fast they learned. My chickens are unfortunately not little Einsteins' but they learned almost instantly when their beaks hit that aluminum flashing. I hope this works for you if you try it. Good Luck!

 

[Old Spice]

I just either flinch or give mine a gentle peck if they peck too hard. The result is they still pick at me, but they're usually gentle when they do

Yeah, I like gentleness. I seem to be having success, time will tell, training a rooster, who attacked me twice, by pecking him on the back of the head with a finger and thumb. I thought about making a fake chicken head to peck him with, LOL, but settled on making my hand into a chicken head shape. So I guess your chickens took notice of your gentleness and pecked you back gently. Your chickens might be a lot smarter than mine.
Edit; Just read this excellent article. A Viewpoint on Handling Roosters: How to Deal with Aggression
and found that I have a lot to learn (what's new LOL).

 

[FrostRanger]

I have all females and their pecks are just curious pecks rather than aggressive pecks so they aren't particularly determined. An aggressive rooster would require a different approach. I do have a hen that was somewhat aggressive that I had to hold down (gently but firmly enough so she can't get away) and after a while she got the idea. This can have mixed results with a rooster from what I hear. Some people have had luck with that and others don't. It worked well enough with my crabby hen (she's still a bit crabby, but she doesn't bite me now, I still love her though lol)

 

[KimbosKluckers]

What a fun idea. I recently posted about my girls being little peckers! Might try this if it gets worse.

 

[Old Spice]

I have all females and their pecks are just curious pecks rather than aggressive pecks so they aren't particularly determined. An aggressive rooster would require a different approach. I do have a hen that was somewhat aggressive that I had to hold down (gently but firmly enough so she can't get away) and after a while she got the idea. This can have mixed results with a rooster from what I hear. Some people have had luck with that and others don't. It worked well enough with my crabby hen (she's still a bit crabby, but she doesn't bite me now, I still love her though lol)

I am glad to hear that some people have had positive results training an aggressive rooster. I hadn't researched it but I noticed how they peck the back of each others heads. I hope my rooster, Billy Felder, makes good use of his training because I really like him.
Edit; Once again, I should have read this long ago, A Viewpoint on Handling Roosters: How to Deal with Aggression

 

[Old Spice]

So I guess where this is going is;
How would my aggressive rooster respond when he finds out my legs are made of hard aluminum. My guess, he would find a softer part of my body. But who knows?

 

[Old Spice]

Hi everyone, thought I'd come back and report my outcomes now that it's been a little while. I've had two times that I've noticed a chicken absent-mindedly peck at my legs but I have not had to repeat their training. I was not so lucky with Billy Felder. Training did not help, actually I must not have done it very well because if anything he became MORE aggressive. I could see that the delivery people would be next and he'd already threatened my wife so I learned to make some really good chicken sausage.