what’s the worst hen you’ve had?

[calichooks]

and this makes sense, i promise. ill tell you mine-
we went to pick up four new pullets from a place about an hour away. when we got there, not only did the guy falsely identify the dominiques as barred rocks and delaware’s as colombian wyandotte’s, but something was wrong in one of the chickens we bought- and we didn’t know it.
so we left the place with a delaware, dominique, black star, and a super pretty silver laced wyandotte. and that’s where the trouble began..
everyone integrated well, we have a flock 11 strong. they warmed up to us as well! three of them matured into beautiful, friendly hens that would follow you and eat out of your hand. meanwhile, this wyandotte was a lean bird, with tight feathers and a giant, single comb. nothing like the giant, fluffy, rose-combed wyandotte i’d has before.
and that’s where it all started! she’s a revolting little hen that signals alarm and scares everyone when there’s nothing to be scared about. she’s flighty, and has never once eaten out of my hand like all the others, and keeps a 5 ft distance between us! while everyone crowds around me to get food, she hangs off in the back clucking because she’s not getting any because she won’t come closer to me.
when you finally manage to catch her she beats her wings hard and has managed to wack me in the face a good few times. her wings are trimmed because she kept flying out so it scratches even more.
she’s just someone i can’t get along with! despite being so pretty, she treats us as monsters while all of our other girls come running for treats and affection. i’ve never once had her come to me like the others.
we’re selling her once the babies are old enough to go outside. she lays a fair amount of eggs so we’re sure someone who has a larger area for them to roam would be delighted with her- lots of eggs and she’s already predator-proof.
so, what’s your most disagreeable hen?

 

[igorsMistress]

How sad that you're selling her. You should know that it's better for birds to integrate if they are in pairs so you ought to send one of her friends with her when you do.

Chickens have their own personalities and not all of them like to be cuddled or eat out of your hand. You could try throwing treats to her even as she hangs on the outskirts. Over time she may still warm up to you more. Forcing her to be held won't work if she's that adamant and frightened by it.

 

[DobieLover]

She's a mix with Wyandotte in her.
She sounds like a NORMAL chicken. And to be honest, much smarter than the others. Chickens are prey animals. She could outlive every other bird in your flock because she is attentive to potential danger (the alerting) and is wary of potential predators (You).
She could do a lot of good in your flock as a look out bird instead of a rooster. I'd never sell her.

 

[calichooks]

How sad that you're selling her. You should know that it's better for birds to integrate if they are in pairs so you ought to send one of her friends with her when you do.

Chickens have their own personalities and not all of them like to be cuddled or eat out of your hand. You could try throwing treats to her even as she hangs on the outskirts. Over time she may still warm up to you more. Forcing her to be held won't work if she's that adamant and frightened by it.

don’t worry, we’re selling her with our welsummer. i understand they have their own personalities but my chickens are my pets and we’ve had her for over a year and she hasn’t taken to us like the other three we bought her with. i’m sure someone else will appreciate her for how she is but right now she’s just not working out with us.

 

[calichooks]

She's a mix with Wyandotte in her.
She sounds like a NORMAL chicken. And to be honest, much smarter than the others. Chickens are prey animals. She could outlive every other bird in your flock because she is attentive to potential danger (the alerting) and is wary of potential predators (You).
She could do a lot of good in your flock as a look out bird instead of a rooster. I'd never sell her.

our barred cochin actually does a decent job at alerting everyone, and has taken the place of a rooster as the highest in the pecking order, but she’s still very affectionate. we don’t have many animals to worry about here except for nocturnal ones, but they’re locked up every night so there’s no worry there. to the east there’s farming communities, and i’m sure they’d get more use out of her cautious personality than we do.