Ok so I'm new to the chicken keeping but I've had my babies since birth they are excited to see me when I go to the coop. Well one hen I particularly like, pollo, has suddenly started acting aggressively towards me. This is not normal for her, she is usually very sweet and gentle but today, she decided to bite my ear my leg my side, my leg has two nice little holes in it she somehow managed through my JEANS. None of my hens have started laying yet they are just going on five months now I have two roosters.. Who have taught her to crow and she has started dancing around the other hens. I've tried "pecking" back but that only seems to get her more riled! She's out for blood and I'm nervous she's going to hurt someone is they come over... Please help me!!
Sounds like she has morphed into a rooster. Sometimes hens crow especially if there isn't a rooster around. But I have never heard of a hen doing the side dance. Young cockerels often get people aggressive when their hormones are raging. This mean one needs to go to freezer camp .Be careful of puncture wounds - are you current on your tetanus shots?
Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan I agree with Sourland, sounds like a rooster - you might post some pics in the What Breed/Gender section of the Forum.
to BYC!! I have a hen that at 3 months old turned on me as well. I tried all the techniques to show her that I was the leader of this flock, but to no avail. She got so aggressive with me and the hens, at one point I had to put pinless peepers on her and she has worn these on and off for nearly 3 years. She is still cranky, but a bit less now that she has aged a bit. It is common in a flock with no rooster for a hen to take the place of the rooster and protect "her" hens. And yes, they can turn on you and bite hard enough to draw blood. I was never able to fully adjust my hens attitude. You will have to decide if you want to keep her, rehome her or make stew out of her. Enjoy BYC!
Hello! I have an australorp that started attacking me at about a year old. She used to be very sweet and would let me hold her. All my chickens I've had since they were bitty . Bernadette only does it when I get to close to my other australorp she starts growling at me then will just tear into me. It's frightening!!
I have a rooster that used to attack my legs. He did it 3 times until a friend that raises chickens told me what to do. Each time he attacked my legs, I would grab him and hold him down for a minute then I pecked him on top of the head. Because when 2 roosters fight, one will hold the other one down and peck his head. So after the first time, it took about a month before he tried it again. so I did the same thing, that lasted about 4 months, the last time he did it, I held him down again and pecked his head. That has been about a year now. sometimes he raises his feathers at me and I just turn around and face him and he turns around and walks away. Yesterday I picked up a hen with him beside me. She was trying to crawl into a nest with a hen that was laying there so I picked her up and put her in the next one. ( I usually don't dare make one of them sqwauk ). He just walked up to my leg and looked at me. He never bothered me and now walks around me like one of the hens. Anyway, When he went for my leg, I quickly used both hands and pinned him to the ground. He tried getting loose but finally gave up after a few seconds. But I still held him to the ground where he couldn't move. It worked for me after a few times that I showed him that I was ahead of them all.
