Why did my chicken bite me?

[Niinna]

My chickens love my .......I think, bcause I give then food but then they all started pecking me what do I doo?....
help me Oliver hill x

 

[maryann momhen]

4 years later....not too late to add to the conversation...my plymouth rocks are almost 21 weeks and very close to laying their first egg...I only have 2 so I think they each think they're top hen...and I too spoiled them feeding them raspberries all summer cutting the corn off the cob when they were younger...now just giving them whole ears wedged somewhere so they can peck to their hearts content....now all of a sudden they're biting me like crazy on the legs when I approach..but only when I have no treats. I switched themto layer feed so I've backed off on the treats.....I actually got my feelings hurt...my dh built their enclosure and run and works inside but they don't peck him...he says its because they know he's top hen..lol...but I've stopped taking it to heart and ill start using the advice I read about putting them into the sqyat gently and making them stay a minute and saying no....and I'm sure they'll realize I'm 2nd top hen..and they're 3rd and 4th ....if they don't stop it'll make the trip to the butcher a little easier...but I bet they will....I also think it could be they're getting a bit feisty from getting close to laying and having their food switched..and fewer treats...ill let you know how I make out

 

[gritsar]

4 years later....not too late to add to the conversation...my plymouth rocks are almost 21 weeks and very close to laying their first egg...I only have 2 so I think they each think they're top hen...and I too spoiled them feeding them raspberries all summer cutting the corn off the cob when they were younger...now just giving them whole ears wedged somewhere so they can peck to their hearts content....now all of a sudden they're biting me like crazy on the legs when I approach..but only when I have no treats. I switched themto layer feed so I've backed off on the treats.....I actually got my feelings hurt...my dh built their enclosure and run and works inside but they don't peck him...he says its because they know he's top hen..lol...but I've stopped taking it to heart and ill start using the advice I read about putting them into the sqyat gently and making them stay a minute and saying no....and I'm sure they'll realize I'm 2nd top hen..and they're 3rd and 4th ....if they don't stop it'll make the trip to the butcher a little easier...but I bet they will....I also think it could be they're getting a bit feisty from getting close to laying and having their food switched..and fewer treats...ill let you know how I make out

My oldest hen Bella, now nearly 7 years old and half-blind, will nip at my fingers whenever they are in range of her beak. She is used to me hand feeding her treats so everything is a treat to her and she wants to get it before the other hens come running up to steal it.

 

[maryann momhen]

Aww sweet thing...7yrs and half blind...she needs to be pampered more than the rest...

 

[gritsar]

Aww sweet thing...7yrs and half blind...she needs to be pampered more than the rest...

All of my old hens, four of them, are spoiled rotten. Bella is the queen. She gets choice of treats first, she waits in the doorway to be let out of the coop, clucks to be let back in and is placed on a roost so she doesn't have to jump up.

 

[maryann momhen]

Now I'm afraid to go in their enclosure...yesterday I was giving themm food and one jumped on top of the feeder the top was loose so it tipped..she lost her balance...fell into the other one..who flew out of the way nicking me right below the eye with her nail...they get crazzy when I go in there for some reason..they're calm with my husband...its like I'm being punished for being the one who spoiled them a little..my husband never gave them treats and they don't expect any from him...me they attack... i m thinking maybe they go a little crazy just before they lay their first egg...she just started sing ing the egg song this morning..and just made that growling sound people have mentioned

 

[gritsar]

Now I'm afraid to go in their enclosure...yesterday I was giving themm food and one jumped on top of the feeder the top was loose so it tipped..she lost her balance...fell into the other one..who flew out of the way nicking me right below the eye with her nail...they get crazzy when I go in there for some reason..they're calm with my husband...its like I'm being punished for being the one who spoiled them a little..my husband never gave them treats and they don't expect any from him...me they attack... i m thinking maybe they go a little crazy just before they lay their first egg...she just started sing ing the egg song this morning..and just made that growling sound people have mentioned

They sometimes do get a little cranky when they are about to start laying for the very first time.
Having owned birds for awhile now, I have tried many breeds and have always gone back to my favorites, my original favorite the brahmas and my new favorite cochins. I just had a broody brahma hatch out six breda and I hatched three more breda in the bator.
The cochins may not be good for much egg laying, preferring to be broody more than anything else, but my brahmas are good (good, not excellent) layers and the breda should be too. The biggest problem I have with the cochins is them being under my feet all the time; they follow me around like puppy dogs. I don't own a single bird, except the roosters, that I can't reach down and pick up anytime I want. The roosters I train to keep their distance.
I just prefer less eggs and more cuddling.

P.S. The growling sound is usually made by the rooster or head hen when they sense a threat, real or imagined.

 

[maryann momhen]

Well I'm just taking the growling to mean feed me some treats I'm tired of that layer pellet...since I'm the hand that feeds them and they follow me everywhere I don't think it was a threat growl...but more just cranky....I'm just don't know if they're going to get over this after the first egg comes...weird there's 2 of them and the one was inside in the nesting box and the one on the outside was singing the laying song..I guess they're both pretty close being sisters

 

[maryann momhen]

Ps...the holding them into a squat position didn't work...it just made them feistier

 

[maryann momhen]

Well...as I said one of the chickens was singing the egg song yesterday...and sure enough later in the day I spotted a yolk on the ground...don't know how long it was there...but no sooner did I noticed it that one of them came over and cleaned it up.....I guess that was a miscarriage...oh well a better one will probably come soon