Sweet turned mean hen

[City Chicken Lady]

I have four hens that have been together for a year. They are a year old this month. They are mixed Rhode Island Red and supposedly Ameraucana. My favorite one has started pecking me. I don't know what happened to change her personality. Is there a cure?

By the way, she is not the boss of the four. One of the other hens is. They have all been laying about six months now.

 

[Judy]

When this has happened to me, I peck back. Not hard, of course. I use a very flimsy "stick," really a weed branch that gives easily, and peck when she gets close enough to reach with the stick. I've stopped a couple of them from doing this. I'm not sure what their intention is, but I wouldn't call it meanness.

 

[centrarchid]

I do nothing. No real harm comes from hen's pecking and I make certain no benefits. Some of mine go through people pecking stage as young adults. With birds that must suffer frequent and close proximity to me, I sit down with book or something to occupy me so aggressor can come over and peck away. The offender usually tires quickly. Some of the pecking is out of curiousity, sometimes bird has come to associate pecking with response from you that yeilds food, rarely does involve bird trying to be dominant unless rooster involved. Even with rooster I use same method. Only exception in where flogging and spurrs involved spurrs can be trimmed.