Why is our hen being randomly aggressive towards us?

[RollyWhit]

We have a 6 month old Australorpe. We have raised her since she was just a few days old. Her and her sisters have always been so sweet, especially around my 8 and 11 year old girls. Our girls love feeding them and simply playing in the backyard around them. In the last few days our Australorpe has randomly ran up to my 8 year old and jumped at her, scratching her legs to the point they have bled. And just now, when I let them out of the coop, she rushed out and did the same thing to me. I am not sure what has gotten into her. How do I make her stop? Help!

 

[HeirloomEggs]

Awful young to be broody?
That's the only time I see this kind of behavior in my hens.
They get MEAN when they're broody.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

We have a 6 month old Australorpe. We have raised her since she was just a few days old. Her and her sisters have always been so sweet, especially around my 8 and 11 year old girls. Our girls love feeding them and simply playing in the backyard around them. In the last few days our Australorpe has randomly ran up to my 8 year old and jumped at her, scratching her legs to the point they have bled. And just now, when I let them out of the coop, she rushed out and did the same thing to me. I am not sure what has gotten into her. How do I make her stop? Help!

Are you certain that this bird is, in fact, a female? I only ask as this is the age where one might expect to see the beginnings of some rather roo-ish behavior in a young bird coming into his hormones.

 

[RollyWhit]

She isn't laying yet. She looks female lol. She just started getting her comb and wattle this last month. Is there any other way to tell for sure? This is our first time raising chickens haha.

 

[appps]

Sounds very typical of a 6 month old rooster, especially as australorps are normally quite docile it would be unusual for a female to attack. Super unusual for one to attack how you are describing. That is how roosters attack.

Can you get a photo of it?

Take a look at it's neck feathers compared to your other hens. Males will develop skinnier pointier neck feathers. Their tail feathers will also be longer
Take a look at this thread, http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8022757 it shows a six month male lorp/orp and describes the male attributes. They aren't as obviously rooster looking as some breeds at that age but you will see the male neck feathers.

 

[lovemy6hens]

When pullets get close to point of lay, some of them go through a seemingly random not-nice & don't-touch-me phase. She'll probably grow out of it.
My australorp has never liked me and went on a 4-month attack on me. She was perfectly sweet to other humans. Thank goodness that's over! She hasn't attacked me for an entire month now. I suppose she finally gave up on trying to knock me off as flock leader. She's always been #3 in the pecking order though.

 

[WYNot]

You guys are way more patient than I. One of my hens (any animal actually, pet or livestock) behaves like that and it is time to make some chicken paprikash. Especially with kids around keeping even a slightly aggressive animal around is simply not worth the risk or the headache.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You guys are way more patient than I. One of my hens (any animal actually, pet or livestock) behaves like that and it is time to make some chicken paprikash. Especially with kids around keeping even a slightly aggressive animal around is simply not worth the risk or the headache.

X 2 - corrective action/training is put in place immediately, humans are kept safe in the meantime and if significant improvement is not seen with corrective action (on part of human and/or animal as many times it is a reaction by the animal inadvertently caused by human action) then decisions are made.

 

[lovemy6hens]

You guys are way more patient than I. One of my hens (any animal actually, pet or livestock) behaves like that and it is time to make some chicken paprikash. Especially with kids around keeping even a slightly aggressive animal around is simply not worth the risk or the headache.

I agree. In my case, she was a complete sweetheart with anyone else (children picking her up included). She would definitely be gone if she attacked anyone else. It's wonderful to have her snuggly again, although I still think she doesn't like me very much.

 

[RollyWhit]

Yes, if she keeps it up, we will definitely have to get rid of her. I have a 3 year old that is too close to the ground for that type of behavior. I just wanted to see what possible issues there could be, and how to go about correcting it. I will post a pic of her (him?) in just a second.