Aggressive hen

[Cliodhna]

So, I resolved my last problem (cockerel attacking what I thought was a hen) as the "hen" started crowing, which just goes to show you cant go by comb and wattles alone lol.

Both boys have now been rehomed with a lovely lady, and are now freeranging over a huge area and we can go and visit whenever we like, which is nice.

But, that has been replaced by another issue. Since they have been gone, their clutchmate, my gorgeously sweet natured hybred, has turned into chicken-monster from hell. She was hand raised, loved coming up for a cuddle, would get up on your lap if you sat down, really was a very affectionate bird, but that changed within the space of 2 days.

She is really aggressive, not just to the other 2 hens but towards us too. she attacked my daughter on Saturday when she went to stroke her (something she has previously loved, she was very affectionate). Not just pecking her hand, but chasing her and pecking her legs and feet.

I'm presuming she is taking over top spot role, but I'm concerned about the aggression towards us, and dont want it to become a habit, more importantly, my daughter is scared of her now, and I really need to nip this in the bud so that it doesnt become a problem and I end up having to get rid of her.

 

[chrismahon]

I think you are right Cliodhna, she is taking over the top spot in a particularly aggressive way. We had a 'mad' hen like that last year who ended up in the oven, simply because I thought she was a 'no hoper'. She actually overthrew the resident cockerel!!!

Not sure what to suggest other than frequent handling. Perhaps a Bumpa beak bit would calm her down but there is a risk of injury if she tries to tear it out. There is a possibility she is ill in some way, which is making her aggressive and the departure of the cockerels is a co-incidence. Scaley leg mite springs to mind- easily overlooked and extremely painful. We treated some of ours for it with a dip in healing oils. Their manner changed within minutes and they became noticeably more relaxed -testimony to how much pain they were in.

 

[KittyKat]

Apparently, if one has hens which consider people to be chickens too (or consider themselves to be human, i.e. hand raised), then the way to stop aggression towards humans is to "peck" at the hens with your finger so that they figure out that you are at the top of the pecking order.

We recently acquired a bantam cockerel who was not hand friendly, and this worked on him. He stopped pecking humans after about three days of being "pecked" back. It doesn't require violence on your part, just a few gentle, but firm taps on their back, between the wings each time that it tries pecking you.

 

[Cliodhna]

Well she seems to have settled down and ironically she is not top chick, but rather bottom of the pecking order. She is now back to her sweet self.

 

[Poultryman]

Well she seems to have settled down and ironically she is not top chick, but rather bottom of the pecking order. She is now back to her sweet self.

Happy to hear that. What really happened? Did you do anything?

 

[Cliodhna]

Nothing really happened as such, I just kept a close eye on them, I handled her regularly and she seemed to settle down.